Afternoon Drips and Drabs

++Josh Marshall catches up on the Obamacare numbers and figures out that with Medicaid expansion we are over 6 million. Add the 3.1 million of adult children and we have a program. But he notes that the number of people in states led by Republicans that will be left out of Obamacare is about 5 million. So one party gives, another party takes away.

++But the new problem for Obamacare according to the Amazon Post is that there are not enough doctors.

++The death of unemployment benefits may hit 1.3 million. But unless Congress acts to restore them,another five million will be affected. 

++Utah has appealed to Sonia Sotomayor to stop the same sex marriages in the state.

++Papa Duck will be appearing on Fox News News Year Eve program.

++Jason Linkins has recovered from his live-blogging of geriatric Sunday Shows to publish a piece today at the Huffington Post about how the GOP never read their autopsy report produced by the RNC and that the make-over didn't happen.

++Matt Tabibi laughs at the GOP's complaints about the "nuts" in the Party and does a number on Karl Rove and his strategy over the years that created this mess.

++The Vatican actually put out a press release to say that Pope Francis hasn't cancelled sin.

++Texas billionaire Harold Simmons died. He was one of the largest GOP donors and one of the original funders of the Swiftboaters, who did in John Kerry's 2004 campaign. In 2012, he gave $26.9 million to various PACs working against the election of President Obama. He called President Obama "the most dangerous man in America because he will eliminate free enterprise." Remember this was after one full term already.

++The S&P 500 is set to close at the highest level since 1997. Obama has failed Socialism 101.

++The Jewish periodical Tikkun says that President Obama is about to challenge the NSA with a series of reforms when he returns from Hawaii. Watch for a real pushback from the National Surveillance State on this one.

++The Right's new complaint against President Obama is that he bowed to Raul Castro at the Mandela ceremony. As someone who is about President Obama's height,I can tell you we always look like we are bowing when we shake hands with short people.

++The first commercial flight between Miami and Havana took off yesterday. During the last two years, Cuba and the United States have had bilateral talks on about two dozen issues. President Obama himself has said that the American policy is obsolete. But will we see a change in the next year or so? 

++Democratic Arkansas Senator Pryor has come out for the state initiative to raise the minimum wage. This isn't unexpected because the national Democratic Party is going to go full tilt at the minimum wage this year in Congress. The polling data shows even among Republicans this issue polls well.

++The CIA has released a report that speculates that the Syrian civil war could last another decade and that we have little influence on determining the outcome.

++President Putin flew seven time zones to deliver a message about the recent terrorist bombings and to assure Russians and the world the Winter Olympics will be safe.

++Washington Monthly rightly blasts the treatment of the Uighurs at Gitmo. The United States shortly after apprehending them determine they were innocent of any crime. While Washington Monthly rightfully chronicles the GOP's crimes in this manner,they didn't spare the Democrats and President Obama. I liked their use of "evil" in referring to holding someone you know as innocent.

++The Saudis have given the Lebanese $3billion in military aid. This came after the Saudis met with French President Hollande about bilateral trade talks and an expression of frustration at the United States because we don't love them anymore. Quite frankly we don't need them anymore.

++Charles Pierce writes at his Esquire blog today about the ongoing disaster of the Keystone XL pipeline. Scientists have found over 7,000 miles of soil contaminated by mercury from the tarsands operation. Remember Paul Ryan wants to hold the debt ceiling contingent on President Obama approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

++Egypt continues to crackdown on the Moslem Brotherhood and now has seized their assets. But bombings are occurring with greater regularity in protest. One of my candidates for stupid political moves of the year is deposing Mohammed Morsi,the democratically elected President, and replacing him with a military dictatorship. The Egyptian military have even added charges against Morsi,including one that he was responsible for a prison break.

++While rebels in South Sudan have seized a major town,there are reports that there really is a ceasefire. There are also reports that the Ugandan President will invade to secure peace.

++While John Kerry is off to Israel, the Knesset voted to seize the Jordan Valley. Expect this dance to continue.