Last Call

Meanwhile, Orange Julius's position on the fiscal cliff slope is crumbling more and more on a now daily basis.

President Barack Obama is not ready to accept a new offer from the Republican leader of the U.S. the House of Representatives to raise taxes on top earners in exchange for major cuts in entitlement programs, a source said late Saturday.

The shape and details of Boehner's offer were uncertain Saturday night, as was the exact reason the president was prepared to reject it.

The source said Obama sees the offer made on Friday by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner as a sign of progress, but simply believes it is not enough and there is much more to be worked out before Obama can reciprocate.

Boehner has cracked on raising tax rates now.  The question is now "on whom?"

Republicans have privately spoken of coming back at Obama with a threshold of $1 million. Obama has previously called that unacceptable because it would not raise enough money on its own to cut the deficit significantly or provide enough money to avert across-the-board spending cuts.

It's the Republicans who are being forced to move, because President Obama knew exactly what he was doing when he walked the GOP into this last year...a deal the GOP could never win, but took anyway.   The President has outsmarted the GOP again, period.

And there's nothing the GOP can do but lose, gracefully or in their case, otherwise.

Hidden (And Still In Hiding) Agendas

This should tell you everything about the NRA lobby in the Senate:

The Sunday morning news shows were dominated by discussion of what can be done after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, which claimed 28 lives on Friday. Several strong gun control advocates, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appeared on the morning shows to push for tighter restrictions and a new assault weapons ban. Their counterparts on the pro-gun side of the aisle, however, categorically refused to appear on MSNBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ to discuss the shooting.

BTW, we reached out to ALL 31 pro-gun rights Sens in the new Congress to invite them to share their views on @meetthepress - NO takers.
— Betsy Fischer Martin (@BetsyMTP) December 16, 2012

Not a one of them felt like defending the "rights" of a citizen to have a Bushmaster AR-15 .223 caliber rifle on the teevee this weekend.  Not one Senator.  Not even John McCain.

Sen. Feinstein on the other hand was glad to announce plans to introduce a new assault weapons ban on the first day of the new Congress.

“I’m going to introduce in the Senate and the same bill will be introduced in the House, a bill to ban assault weapons. It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession. Not retroactively but prospectively. And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets. So there will be a bill. We’ve been working on it now for a year,” Feinstein said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” during a discussion about guns following Friday’s deadly mass shooting as a Connecticut school.

Think there's something the Senate fears more than the gun lobby?  I do.

Stuns Of Anarchy

My last takedown of Power Line blogger John Hinderaker was pretty detailed, so this time around I'll spare you guys my usual bloviation and just say that "John Hinderaker may actually be the stupidest mofo alive."

Within the realm of constitutional options, the most practical remedy I can think of would be to require that a certain number of teachers or administrators in each school be trained in the use of firearms and armed at all times. That would probably deter most school shooters. It is curious, but true, that even those killers who do not intend to survive their crimes never seem to open fire in the presence of another armed person. No one tries to shoot up a biker bar.

Except for, as Charles Johnson points out, all the deadly shootouts at biker bars.

Remember, this is a man who believes union members are all thugs who want blood and thinks teachers unions are the sole cause of failed schools.

He is now calling on those selfsame union thug teachers to be forced to carry loaded firearms and be trained in how to use them as part of their jobs.

He really is insane.  Completely, mentally, totally insane.