The chatter amongst the Inside-the-Beltway C&CCS* set is the recent flare up in the barely simmering ideological flame war between the Establishment “Main Street Republican” Decepticons and grassroots Tea Party activists leading into the 2014 election cycle for the very soul and future direction of “Conservatism” in America.
In addition to not-so-subtle chats with martial industry lobbyists, at a fundraiser held in early November McConnell personally demanded Defense contractors pony up to stop the Tea Party assault or face a defense contract spending drought in the next Congress.

Sources close to the discussions state McConnell is looking for deep pockets to fund his “one issue” campaign to “teach” those who seek to primary “approved” Establishment Republicans a “lesson” as some type of ill conceived anodynic salve that will simultaneously heal the internecine rupture and rally the troops while affirmatively castigating the wayward “wild eyed” Tea Party patriots and extinguishing any lingering questions about his impoverished ability to lead fence sitting middle America into rallying behind a resurgent majority Republican Congress. Overall support from the defense industries has tapered significantly since the 2008 cycle, and McConnell is demanding they open the spigot – wide.

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Amnesty Legislation – Mitch McConnell supports it,  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports it, The Republican Party Supports it, every single Democrat supports it, and you are going to get it whether you want it or not.
WASHINGTON DC – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she spoke with Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday and asked when an overhaul to immigration laws could be considered in the House.
“He told me yes, we have to wait until next year,” Pelosi told reporters on Wednesday morning.
Democrats have been pushing House Republicans to hold a vote on a landmark immigration reform bill that was passed in June, or try to work on their own immigration legislation. But Republicans have been apprehensive, with the most conservative members opposed to anything that could provide a pathway to citizenship or legalization for undocumented immigrants.  (continue reading)

You can read the details in a variety of places. With a large dose of Brutal Honesty I tell you, it just doesn’t matter.
The bottom line is they agreed to spend more money.
The Dems wanted to spend “a lot more” – The Republicans wanted to spend a “little more”. They compromised and are spending “more”.   That’s all this is, a dog and pony show about spending more. Always more.   Just more.

Here’s a perspective from TPM: In a major breakthrough after three years of paralyzing partisan rifts, Congress’ top two budget chiefs finalized a bipartisan agreement Tuesday that would set spending levels for two years and mitigate some of the painful spending cuts required by the sequester. (more…)

Allow me to establish from the outset that what Rand Paul is trying is valiant, admirable, and needed.   However, simultaneously he is up against a massive institutional complex which has designed the architecture of dependency and need it to remain.

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system.
For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”  (link)

Some may dismiss what Rand Paul is actually trying to promote, I do not.
Beyond policy is something more important – engagement.
The greatest consideration a person or enterprise can give is the gift of understanding. As much as Rand Paul is offering policy suggestions to improve inner cities, he is engaged and listening.
However, one of the unfortunate realities he faces, which actually establishes the slope of the climb he is attempting, is the reality of dependency.
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Is the bloom off the ruse?   Still too early to tell, and the mellennials have repeatedly shown a remarkable propensity to be duped and manipulated (see: Sandra Fluke et al) so until we see consistency from Jon Stewart’s watchers, meh.
WASHINGTON DC – The Obama thrill is gone among America’s millennials, those aged 18-29, just a year after they helped the president win a second term.

A new and shocking poll from Harvard University’s Institute of Politics released Wednesday found that younger Americans are so disgusted with President Obama, Congress, and the troubled Obamacare system, that 47 percent support recalling the president and just 29 percent are planning to sign up for health insurance.
“A critical factor in the election and reelection of Barack Obama, America’s 18- to 29- year-olds now rate the president’s job performance closer to that of Congress – and at the lowest level since he took office in 2009,” said Harvard Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson.
How bad? Obama’s approval rating among millennials is just 41 percent. Even young blacks are tiring of the president, with his approval rating among African Americans dropping from 84 percent seven months ago to 75 percent today.  (read more)

“government shutdown”?   Oh, it’s only terrorism when the other side does it.
Paul Ryan and Patty Murray have been trying for weeks to come to a budget agreement.  They are talking and working but the sticking points are what they have always been.  Democrats want the sequester caps removed and spending increased.  
If Ryan and Murray can’t come to a deal Boehner has a backup plan to just advance the Continuing Resolution at current fiscal spending levels.  Senate Dems are FREAKING.
WASHINGTON DC – House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer would oppose a continuing resolution to keep government funded beyond Jan. 15 if it doesn’t address the sequestration cuts.
“I believe that hurts our national security, it hurts our economy and it undermines our responsibility of running government at a level that is productive for our people,” Hoyer said. (more…)

DETROIT — The city of Detroit officially became the largest municipality in U.S. history Tuesday to enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy after a judge declared it met the specific legal criteria required to receive protection from its creditors.

The landmark ruling ends more than four months of uncertainty over the fate of the case and sets the stage for a fierce clash over how to slash an estimated $18 billion in debt and long-term liabilities that have hampered Detroit from attacking pervasive blight and violent crime. (more…)

HatTip Weaselzippers – Unbelievable pictures starting to come out of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev. Hundreds of thousands of people demanding Ukraine join the EU community.

Protests against #Ukraine president and government who don't want to integrate with EU continue, #Kyiv central square pic.twitter.com/FUNb2hNfWS

— UkraineTrek.com (@ukrainetrek) December 1, 2013

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Riot police in Ukraine’s capital have used tear gas, truncheons and flash grenades to push back protesters who tried to storm the presidential administration building. Dozens of people with what appeared to be head injuries were taken away by ambulance. (more…)

[New York City]   Community leaders in East New York say that jobs are the answer to ending the so-called “knockout” game.

Councilman Charles Barron and other local activists spoke publicly for a second time about a rash of assaults involving young people punching unsuspecting victims. Barron says the root of the problem is that young people need jobs to help keep them out of trouble. (more…)

 Washington (CNN) – Only four out of 10 Americans believe President Barack Obama can manage the federal government effectively, according to a new national poll.
And a CNN/ORC International survey released Monday morning also indicates that 53% of Americans now believe that Obama is not honest and trustworthy, the first time that a clear majority in CNN polling has felt that way.

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