What’s news today?

I gotta bunch this morning.

Let’s start with some economic/jobs stories.

Rick Santelli loses his mind on the new Unemployment numbers. Again.

Here’s the video, from CNBC

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Then this from Bloomberg.

“A decision by the Federal Reserve to expand its bond buying next week is likely to prompt policy makers to rewrite their 18-month-old blueprint for an exit from record monetary stimulus.

Under the exit strategy, the Fed would start selling bonds in mid-2015 in a bid to return its holdings to pre-crisis proportions in two to three years. An accelerated buildup of assets would also mean a faster pace of sales when the time comes to exit — increasing the risk that a jump in interest rates would crush the economic recovery.”

“The Fed is already buying $40 billion a month in mortgage- backed securities to boost the economy, and policy makers meeting Dec. 11-12 will consider whether to purchase more assets. John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, has proposed adding $45 billion of Treasury securities a month.”

Sure, why not, it’s only money.

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More on those job numbers here, from CNSNews.

“Seventy-three percent of the new civilian jobs created in the United  States over the last five months are in government, according to official  data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In June, a total of 142,415,000 people were employed in the U.S,  according to the BLS, including 19,938,000 who were employed by federal,  state and local governments.”

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How will The Cliff impact your family? I’m willing to bet badly. But if a deal is made to make the lower/middle tax cuts permanent, the deficit will continue. It just looks like a pay now or later deal. I can’t help but think later it’ll just be worse.

Look at the chart. You know they won’t make cutbacks to education, police, unemployment benefits, and the like, so even if they make a deal preventing increases on the middle and lower classes, what’s left? Not much, the new taxes on “the rich” and military cuts won’t even make a dent.

From MSNMoney

“The fiscal cliff started to affect business decisions this fall. That’s why you saw small declines in manufacturing in Friday’s jobs report, for example.

It appears to be a worry for consumers now. The University of Michigan’s latest consumer sentiment survey shows confidence dropping to a four-month low. That suggests households are concerned about a potentially sharp fall in their after-tax incomes.

The CBO data suggests they might want to be concerned.”

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But, but, but…… Obama said Al-Qaida was on the run, and dwindling in numbers. I’m shocked at this new development.

🙄

From TheJerusalemPost

“The top US envoy to Syria warned on Thursday that extremists were  gaining influence in the Syrian opposition and that this influence would only  increase the longer fighting dragged on in the Levant country.

US  Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, speaking to the Foundation for Defense of  Democracies, described extremist groups that had “little by little been gaining  influence among the armed opposition.” He pointed particularly to an al-Qaida  affiliate in Iraq that is now operating in Syria.”

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A judge has mocked the Obama admins so-called “Religious Accomodations” proposal for contraceptives.

From the WashingtonExaminer

“Judge Brian Cogan mocked the “accommodation” on religion liberty outlined by President Obama in regards to his health care law’s contraception mandate while ruling against a Justice Department motion to dismiss the Archdiocese of New York’s lawsuit against the regulation.

“There is no, ‘Trust us, changes are coming’ clause in the Constitution,” Cogan wrote in his ruling against DOJ. “To the contrary, the Bill of Rights itself, and the First Amendment in particular, reflect a degree of skepticism towards governmental self-restraint and self-correction.”

Cogan was referring to the fact that Obama’s promise to accommodate the concerns of religiously affiliated institutions that would have provide free contraception.”

More here from CatholicCulture.org

“A US district court judge has ruled that the Archdiocese of New York’s lawsuit against the HHS mandate may proceed. Other courts have dismissed similar lawsuits on the grounds that the Catholic plaintiffs had not yet suffered injury from the mandate.”

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And lastly, remember, they had to pass it first, before they could tell us what was in it.

From Heritage.org

“American health care consumers aren’t the only ones who will be hit by slated Obamacare tax hikes. Medical bills for their pets may go up as well.

According to a rule published Friday by the Internal Revenue Service, some medical devices used in veterinary practices will be hit by Obamacare’s 2.3 percent device tax. Many of their manufacturers are expected to hike prices, meaning higher veterinary costs for the nation’s pet owners.”

“The IRS rule states:

Section 4191 [of the Internal Revenue Code] limits the definition of a taxable medical device to devices described in section 201(h) of the [Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act] that are intended for humans, but does not provide that the device must be intended exclusively for humans. Under existing [Food and Drug Administration] regulations, a device intended for use exclusively in veterinary medicine is not required to be listed as a device with the FDA, whereas a device intended for use in human medicine is required to be listed as a device with the FDA even if the device may also be used in veterinary medicine.”

Nice.

So how many will just say “He was a good pet, and I’m gonna miss ’em” now do to higher costs?