Top Headline Comments 1-22-13

Happy Tuesday.

While Democrats have paroxysms of glee at Obama's inaugural promises to spend more money the country doesn't have on progressive programs most people don't want, smarter commentators noted what was lacking in the speech.

Here's the AP: "If there was a way to reconcile such spending with demands to stabilize the nation's debt, he didn't mention it."

David Ignatius, after calling the speech "flat, partisan and pedestrian," noted: "If you were hoping that the president would set the stage for a grand bargain to restructure America’s entitlement programs and fiscal health for the 21st century, you wouldn’t have found much encouragement."

Even Politico found that there was no indication that Obama's claim four yours ago that he would make "hard choices" on entitlement reform would come true in a second term: "His inaugural address promised an ambitious progressive agenda — and laid bare Obama’s deeply conflicted relationship with entitlement reform."

In other news, the Canadians are pissed off at themselves for their new bank note which features the wrong Maple leaf. A real quote, not from the Onion: "It’s almost Canadian in the fact that we can’t even get our symbols right."

Scientists want to create a cave-baby, Jurassic Park-style. Moronettes, they're looking for a volunteer...

The House GOP introduced legislation yesterday to keep the government from hitting the debt ceiling until at least May 18. It would withhold the pay of lawmakers in either the House or Senate if their chamber fails to pass a budget this year (so, not by May 18, but sometime before October). The point, say House Republicans, is to force the Senate to pass a budget so normal budgeting negotiations can begin, something the Democrats have avoided for four years.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 06:54 AM

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