Since it’s the end of the year, let’s do an open thread. But with a twist.

What’s been the top stories of the year for you? Which do you think would rate as the “Story of the Year”?

Give me your top 2 or 3.

Since it’s the weekend, let’s do an open news thread today.

What have you got for us?

Here’s a few from me.

Just further proof you should never trust the CBO.

From the AmericanEnterpriseInstitute

“In 2002, CBO predicted 2012 US debt would be 7.4% of GDP. In reality, it was almost 74% of GDP”

I just can’t wait to see how badly they’re off on Obamacare.

____________________________________________

If we’re gonna have a national conversation about guns, then we need to be honest about it.

From Mediaite

“John Kass, columnist for The Chicago Tribune, appeared on CNN on Friday where he discussed the tragic increase of violence and murder that has struck his city in recent years. He said that lawmakers and members of the press have been guilty of “papering over” how bad the situation in Chicago was getting, and of “ghettoizing” the minority children who become the victims of gun violence in the inner city. Kass concluded by challenging President Barack Obama to come to Chicago for the funeral of one of the “hundreds and hundreds” of African-American and Latino children killed every year in gun crimes.”

““We make the Sandy Hook – which was a tragedy – a big deal. Why don’t the politicians come to the funerals of the dead African-American and Latino kids who get killed by the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds,” asked Kass. “The media has ghettoized these children, these homicide victims.”

“I’m not diminishing the others, I’m just saying, President Obama, show up at a funeral here in Chicago once in a while too,” Kass concluded.”

Good Point. And also, we should be honest about how the Democrat solution does not work. Chicago shows this.

____________________________________________

What’s news today?

Sadly, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf has died.

From Politico

“Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who topped an illustrious military career by  commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein’s  forces out of Kuwait in 1991 but kept a low public profile in controversies over  the second Gulf War against Iraq, died Thursday. He was 78.”

“With the passing of General Norman Schwarzkopf, we’ve lost an American  original. From his decorated service in Vietnam to the historic liberation of  Kuwait and his leadership of United States Central Command, General Schwarzkopf  stood tall for the country and Army he loved. Our prayers are with the  Schwarzkopf family, who tonight can know that his legacy will endure in a nation  that is more secure because of his patriotic service.”

A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was known popularly  as “Stormin’ Norman” for a notoriously explosive temper.”

We’ve lost a man who dedicated his life to serving this country. He was a soldier, a patriot, and a man willing to give his life for those under his command. He exhibited the qualities required of a good military leader. Some may say he was a little rough around the edges, but only when required, and usually to get his men what they needed. Well done Sir.

From Wikipedia

“[I]n Vietnam in March 1970, Schwarzkopf was involved in rescuing men of his battalion from a minefield. He had received word that men under his command had encountered a minefield on the notorious Batangan Peninsula, he rushed to the scene in his helicopter, as was his custom while a battalion commander, in order to make his helicopter available. He found several soldiers still trapped in the minefield. Schwarzkopf urged them to retrace their steps slowly. Still, one man tripped a mine and was severely wounded but remained conscious. As the wounded man flailed in agony, the soldiers around him feared that he would set off another mine. Schwarzkopf, also wounded by the explosion, crawled across the minefield to the wounded man and held him down (using a “pinning” technique from his wrestling days at West Point) so another could splint his shattered leg. One soldier stepped away to break a branch from a nearby tree to make the splint. In doing so, he too hit a mine, which killed him and the two men closest to him, and blew an arm and a leg off Schwarzkopf’s artillery liaison officer. Eventually, Schwarzkopf led his surviving men to safety, by ordering the division engineers to mark the locations of the mines with shaving cream. (Some of the mines were of French manufacture and dated back to the Indochina conflict of the 1950s; others were brought by Japanese forces in World War II). Schwarzkopf says in his autobiography It Doesn’t Take a Hero that this incident firmly cemented his reputation as an officer who would risk his life for the soldiers under his command.

Schwarzkopf told his men that they might not like some of his strict rules, but it was for their own good. He told them “When you get on that plane to go home, if the last thing you think about me is ‘I hate that @#$%’, then that is fine because you’re going home alive.” Lt. General Hal Moore later wrote that it was during his time in Vietnam that Schwarzkopf acquired what later became his infamous temper, while arguing via radio for passing American Hueys to land and pick up his wounded men.”

_____________________________________________

In other news……  Here comes the gun grab.

From Sen. Feinsteins office.

“Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:

• Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
  • 120 specifically-named firearms;
  • Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics; and
  • Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.
• Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
  • Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test;
  • Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test; and
  • Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans.
• Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
• Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
  • Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment;
  • Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes; and
  • Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons.
• Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
  • Background check of owner and any transferee;
  • Type and serial number of the firearm;
  • Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
  • Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
  • Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration.

_____________________________________________

Gov. Snyder of Michigan strikes again.

From DetroitNews

“Gov. Rick Snyder signed a new emergency manager bill Thursday, 52 days after  voters repealed a similar version of the law.”

“”These new laws recognize the vital importance of financially stable,  economically vibrant communities to Michigan’s future,” Snyder said in a  statement. “They also respect the needs of citizens and taxpayers by delivering  greater oversight and efficiency. Our reinvention of government is delivering meaningful reforms that will keep  Michigan on the path to prosperity.””

“LaMar Lemmons, president of the Detroit Public School board, called Snyder’s  signature of the new law “a travesty of justice.””

_____________________________________________

This one I find troubling because they’re our insurer. But yes, so predictable.

Say it with me now, “If you like your insurance, you can keep it!”

He forgot the “IF you can still afford it” part.

From CNBC

“To provide all Americans with health insurance, premiums will have to rise to pay for it, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday.

“If we’re going to insure all Americans, which is a worthy and appropriate cause, then somebody has to pay for it,” Bertolini said of the expected premium increases under Obamacare.

Bertolini said that insurance premiums could double in some places just on the basis of what types of policies people buy today.

He also said that when Obamacare is fully implemented, it won’t start the way people had hoped and it won’t be cheaper.”

Exactly the opposite of what was advertised when they tried to sell it.

_____________________________________________

What do you folks have?