Waiting for Newt--ZZZZ

While we await the great announcement, let's review the news:

Wisconsin has ordered the arrest of the 14 Democratic Senators. Yesterday, the Republicans decided to fine them $100 a day until they returned to the Capitol. Representative Obey couldn't get into the Capitol building but teabaggers were smuggled in through tunnels so that Scott Walker would have an appreciative audience for his speech on the "budget repair" bill, which also repealed the bill, which forced health insurance companies to pay for contraceptive pills. Fox News portrayed angry union protestors resorting to violence--with palm trees in the background. And Glenn beck today announced that over 50% of the demonstrators were anti-semitic like Richard Trumpka, who is not anti-semitic. So I guess Jews shouldn't move to Wisconsin.

The NEA mentioned that the anti-union actions by Republicans will have negative consequences in the future. They claim to have 1 million Republicans who are members and who are e-mailing the leadership about not voting for the GOP in the near future.

South Dakota passed a bill requiring a 72-hour mandatory waiting period before an abortion procedure. In Ohio, two fetuses testified on the "Heartbeat Bill". This is the extreme Right's bill to prohibit abortion once a heartbeat can be heard. Unfortunately, one of the fetus' heartbeats could't be heard and the other could. Rachel Maddow did an excellent segment the other night on how two Wyoming Republican women legislators killed that state's anti-abortion law. They said that the election in 2010 was about jobs and getting the economy going, not about interferring between a woman and her doctors. Touche.

Judge Vinson who ruled that the healthcare bill was unconstitutional, reneged on his position. He's one of the few whose decision actually received coverage. The Obama Administration requested a clarification of his decision and its impact on the implementation of the bill so he just canned the whole thing and suggested they get a speedy review of the bill at a higher level.

The economic think-tanks are all posting their analysis of the GOP's House Budget. The consensus number now is that it will cost 700,000 jobs. Others have it costing 1 million jobs.

The job numbers out today indicate a gain of some 240,000 plus jobs. But the real news is that the private sector created over 350,000 jobs--which would put the number in line with the Reagan and Clinton periods monthly totals. Unfortunately, all the job losses are from the pubic sector and those should increase not decrease as the Republican governors fire people.

Haley Barbour has figured out the new Welfare Queens, the recipients of Medicaid who drive BMWs. I guess they changed from Cadillacs.

Virtually every Republican Senator wants President Obama to cashier Dr. Donald Berwick, the Medicare Administrator. Known as one of the most innovative thinkers on healthcare in the United States,the Republicans want him removed because of his praise of the British health system. He would be a loss because Medicare Reform is one of the top priorities under the new health reform bill.

President Obama performed some jujitsu on the Republican governors this week as he challenged them to come up with a better solution to his healthcare bill as long as it had the same results of providing good insurance for the same amount of people. This was a shrewd move, pushing the ball back into their court. We heard about the so-called Republican plan to "Repeal and Replace" but no replace has materialized. The flexibility for states now allows for the public option or single payer, which is being introduced now in Vermont. The Canadian system was actually introduced first in one region nefore it took hold in the entire country.

Quinnipiac has a new poll out. Three-fourths of Americans like Obama personally. two-thirds of Americans believe taxes should be raised for those earning more than $250,000a year to deal with the deficit. Most Americans oppose the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Poll after poll shows that Americans by a supermajority back the Wisconsin demonstrators and collective bargaining. Today Rasmussen tried to counter for the Republicans but found basically the same results.

The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll out that Republican pollster Bill Mcinturff says should throw out yellow flags to Republicans:

81% want additional tax cuts for people earning over $1 million.
78% want earmaks eliminated.
76% want to eliminate funding for weapons systems the Defense Department doesn't want.
68% want the Bush-era tax cuts phased out.
74% wants tax credits for the oil and gas industry eliminated.
Then:
Only 32% want cuts in Medicaid.
23% want cuts in Medicare
22% want cuts in education from K-12.
22% want cuts in Social Security.

Yesterday John Boehner on Fox News announced his desire to cut Medicare and Social Security. Boehner also doesn't know yet whether he wants to negotiate with the White House on the budget so as to avoid a government shut-down. Right now,Pew polling says that blame for a government shutdown would be split between the Republicans and Obama. But Andrew Kohut said that this number would change into the Democrats' favor if the American people learned what was to be cut. See poll above.

Warren Buffett says that he expects the unemployment level to be around 7% in 2012. I'm doubtful but let's hope.

2012 will also represent the first time a majority of Americans will favor same-sex marriage. A recent poll shows that for the first time same-sex marriage is favored over opponents. The good news is that House Republicans promise tomorrow they will have a plan on how to defend DOMA. Trent Franks of Arizona said that Obama should be impeached for not defending DOMA, which had been ruled unconstitutional by a Reagan-appointed judge in Massachusetts. Obama cleverly allowed the U.S. to remain in the case but his DOJ will not defend. This means that House Republicans can defend. This should be interesting particularly in light of the polling trends.