Listen to an mp3 recording of Thursday's press event

Polling released Thursday shows that 67 percent of California voters support the initiative that will be on the ballot in November 2012 that would require millionaires to pay more progressive tax rates in order to restore funding for education and other essential pograms. Tulchin Research, which conducted the poll said this was the highest positive response they had ever seen for a revenue-related initiative since they've been conducting polls.

The group behind the initiative, Restoring California, hired Tulchin to conduct the poll, which was done, in conjunction with focus groups, after May 2011. Other key findings include:

75% of California voters likely to vote in the November 2012 general election agree the rich have gotten richer over the past several years while middle class families have struggled.

73% of voters indicate they are open to raising taxes on the wealthy to restore funding to essential services.

If the November 2012 elections were held today, 67% of voters would vote YES to support the Millionaires Tax to Restore Funding to Essential Services, a ballot measure that raises taxes on those making more than $1 million a year to restore funding to education and other essential services.

Specifically, 84% of Democrats, and 68% of independent voters are supporting the measure, and Republicans are evenly split as 45% would vote YES on it if the election were held today.

Every region of the state supports the measure, with the strongest support coming from the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Voters of all races and ethnicities would vote YES on the Millionaires Tax if the election were held today, including 88% of African Americans, 81% of Asians, 78% of Latinos, and 64% of white voters.

Strongest support comes from those voters under 40 years of age (80% YES), though even a solid majority of voters 65 and older, who are traditionally more conservative, support it in solid numbers (59% YES).

Voters of all income levels are backing the Millionaires Tax

The highest level of support comes from voters making less than $35,000 a year in household income (83% YES);

Voters making more than $250,000 a year in household income (the top 1% of households in the country) are also voting YES on the measure (59%).

There are several other revenue-producing ideas on the table in California, but the poll shows that the Millionaires Tax is the most likely of the proposals to pass. If this proposal passed, it would raise $6 billion.

“The additional reductions to education we are now facing with the trigger cuts will have devastating affects on our children in K-12 and make higher education even less accessible for working and middle class families after years of tuition increases,” said Joshua Pechthalt, a public school teacher and parent who serves as president of the California Federation of Teachers. “The Millionaires Tax would begin to move the tax responsibility for funding services and education back where it belongs, toward the Californians who have the most ability to pay, who have benefited the most over the past twenty years, while not placing any additional burden on the 99% who are already hurting from years of recession.”

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It's an interesting balancing act here. The White House is attacking the Ryan-Wyden Medicare plan (quite rightfully) as "undermining" Medicare (because it does) - but it also sounds pretty similar to previous compromises offered by Obama during budget negotiations, and a lot like the Affordable Care Act. So is this the White House in campaign mode, or are they really drawing a line the president won't cross? Let's hope it's the latter:

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House spokesmen Thursday blasted a new bipartisan plan to overhaul Medicare, saying it would undermine the health care program for seniors and disabled people, leaving it to "wither on the vine."

That prompted the plan's Democratic co-author, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, to fire back at the Obama administration and other critics on the left. His office said critics are misrepresenting the proposal without reading it.

Meanwhile, the campaign of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney heaped praises on the new plan.

Wyden and his Republican counterpart, House budget chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, say they're trying to tone down the political rhetoric over Medicare and start a serious national dialogue about the future of an essential program.

The Wyden-Ryan plan — still lacking cost projections and other key details — is unlikely to go anywhere before the 2012 elections, but it could serve as a marker of sorts in the political debate next year.

[...] Under the Wyden-Ryan plan, current beneficiaries and those close to retirement would get to remain in Medicare as it is now.

But the program would be re-engineered for those 54 and younger. Upon reaching 65, future retirees would have a choice between traditional Medicare and regulated private insurance plans, all competing to lower costs and provide quality care. Seniors would get a fixed amount to spend on a health plan, no matter which coverage they selected. Low-income, and older, sicker people would get more money.

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GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul got the neocons up in arms again with his statements during this Thursday night's GOP primary debate on Fox News when he told one of the moderators, Bret Baier, why he thought all the hyping of Iran's potential nuclear threat was so dangerous.

The LA Times summed up this segment of the debate quite nicely -- Ron Paul: Strike against Iran would risk a repeat of 'useless' Iraq war:

Ron Paul did it again. The libertarian-minded Republican separated himself from the pack of candidates at tonight's debate by urging restraint in response to a possible Iranian nuclear threat, saying the U.S. can ill afford a repeat of its now-concluded war in Iraq.

Paul said there was "no U.N. evidence" that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program, calling claims to the contrary "war propaganda."

"To me the greatest danger is that we will have a president that will overreact, and we will soon bomb Iran," he said. "We ought to really sit back and think, not jump the gun and believe that we are going to be attacked. That's how we got into that useless war in Iraq and lost so much."

Paul said it "makes more sense" to directly engage with Iran diplomatically. And he even praised President Obama for "wisely backing off on sanctions" against Iran, which he called overreaching.

"We have 12,000 diplomats in our services. We ought to use a little bit of diplomacy once in a while."

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I haven't been writing too much lately because of publisher type duties I have to perform, but when I saw this bit of ridiculousness from Hot Air aimed at myself I wanted to respond. Everyone, right or left knows I don't make stuff up like some people we know (fill in the names yourself) but when Tina Korbe says that there's no way I could defend my earlier post about the riotous scene at Oklahoma State, I couldn't pass up the chance. By the way, I happen to be pretty good friends with Ed Morrissey, even if we view politics differently so this isn't personal towards Hot Air.

But I’m not sure John Amato of CrooksandLiars.com could come back with a follow-up piece that would convince me of the rightness of his reasoning in this little bit of commentary, provocatively headlined “#OWS Are Just Sleeping in Tents; College Football Fans Are Rioting.”

In it, just as the headline suggests, Amato argues that fans storming the field after a football game constitutes violent rioting.

Had he just stopped there, the piece would have been funny enough — but still somewhat defensible. He at least offers some evidence for his perspective: After the Oklahoma State University Cowboys subjugated the University of Oklahoma Sooners this weekend in the annual Oklahoma rivalry game aptly known as “Bedlam,” OSU fans were in such a hurry to dismantle the goalposts that they inadvertently injured at least 12 fellow fans, including one who had to be airlifted to the hospital.

She obviously missed my point so I'll let one of the biggest sports talk show hosts do it for me. In the above video, WFAN's talk show host Mike Francesa explained the riotous situation in Oklahoma State, which he described from someone on the field as "natural disaster" like that took place. His words not mine. Mike is a known Republican and political junkie so he doesn't have a political agenda about this incident like say, Hot Air does. he ripped into the entire event and wondered if stadiums will need to build fences so fans can't get on the field.

Now Korbe either doesn't understand the meaning of my earlier post or is not being honest about it, that's up to her to figure out.

But the more likely explanation than Amato’s is that the police have turned to questionable tactics to evict OWS protesters because Occupiers have proved themselves to be, time and again, belligerent. Defying lawful orders to pack up and leave isn't exactly the way to ensure you’re evicted peacefully.

Did you happen to see the police called in with pepper spray, tear gas and hazmat suits to make sure tea party town halls during the August recess didn't turn ugly, did you? And they did turn very ugly because groups like Freedom Works and Americans for Prosperity disseminated memos designed to aggressively disrupt those town halls.

The memo above also resembles the talking points being distributed by FreedomWorks for pushing an anti-health reform assault all summer. Patients United, a front group maintained by Americans for Prosperity, is currently busing people all over the country for more protests against Democratic members. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the NRCC, has endorsed the strategy, telling the Politico the days of civil town halls are now “over.”

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Only hours after noted author Christopher Hitchens died of cancer, several of his famous Christian friends were declaring that the atheist would finally know that God is real.

"He was left, I was right, but we had great debates, great drinking bouts," conservative radio host Bill Bennett said on CBS Thursday. "And I hope as the big atheist that he was, he's in for a big surprise."

Pastor Rick Warren called Hitchens a "friend" in a post on Twitter.

"I loved & prayed for him constantly & grieve his loss," Warren wrote. "He knows the Truth now."

But not all of Hitchens friends used the occasion of his death to trumpet the existence of God.

"Christopher Hitchens, finest orator of our time, fellow horseman, valiant fighter against all tyrants including God," fellow atheist and author Richard Dawkins tweeted.

Listen to an mp3 recording of Thursday's press event

Polling released Thursday shows that 67 percent of California voters support the initiative that will be on the ballot in November 2012 that would require millionaires to pay more progressive tax rates in order to restore funding for education and other essential programs. Tulchin Research, which conducted the poll said this was the highest positive response they had ever seen for a revenue-related initiative since they've been conducting polls.

The group behind the initiative, Restoring California, hired Tulchin to conduct the poll, which was done, in conjunction with focus groups, after May 2011. Other key findings include:

75% of California voters likely to vote in the November 2012 general election agree the rich have gotten richer over the past several years while middle class families have struggled.

73% of voters indicate they are open to raising taxes on the wealthy to restore funding to essential services.

If the November 2012 elections were held today, 67% of voters would vote YES to support the Millionaires Tax to Restore Funding to Essential Services, a ballot measure that raises taxes on those making more than $1 million a year to restore funding to education and other essential services.

Specifically, 84% of Democrats, and 68% of independent voters are supporting the measure, and Republicans are evenly split as 45% would vote YES on it if the election were held today.

Every region of the state supports the measure, with the strongest support coming from the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Voters of all races and ethnicities would vote YES on the Millionaires Tax if the election were held today, including 88% of African Americans, 81% of Asians, 78% of Latinos, and 64% of white voters.

Strongest support comes from those voters under 40 years of age (80% YES), though even a solid majority of voters 65 and older, who are traditionally more conservative, support it in solid numbers (59% YES).

Voters of all income levels are backing the Millionaires Tax

The highest level of support comes from voters making less than $35,000 a year in household income (83% YES);

Voters making more than $250,000 a year in household income (the top 1% of households in the country) are also voting YES on the measure (59%).

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Labor organization American Rights at Work released its holiday gift buying guide this week, spotlighting gifts and holiday supplies from union companies who manufacture products made in America. A printable version of the guide can be found online.

These days, as more and more jobs get shipped overseas, it’s not easy to know what’s made in America, let alone by union members. With our guide, you can rest easy knowing that your holiday shopping will support good, family-supporting jobs here at home. And that’s a gift every American can enjoy.

Companies highlighted in the guide include: Wilson, Louisville Slugger, Snap-On, Electrolux, Jackson & Perkins, Wendell August, Omaha Steaks, Usinger's, All-Clad, Regal Ware, Cutco, Powell's, Costco, American Greetings, AirTran, Alaska Airlines, American, Continental, United, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit Airlines, and U.S. Airways, Amtrak, Libbey, Corelle, Gallo, the makers of games like Scrabble, Monopoly and Life, Disneyland, Disney World, teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLS.

Read the full guide for tips on how to support these pro-union companies that create jobs in the United States.

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Someone has paid for a poll designed to see if there is any enthusiasm for a Jeb Bush run against Barack Obama in 2012.

Here's more:

After all, it would be too late for Bush to enter the race, right? Everyone has been told that the field is set. And indeed, in several primary states qualifying has closed. But New Hampshire allows voters to write-in any name they choose. And most party caucuses either don’t have a ballot or have a pretty open write-in policy. Don’t forget, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. won a surprise write-in victory in New Hampshire without ever declaring himself a candidate for President in 1964.

There is still time. In fact, if Jeb was interested in seeking the party’s nomination, this might be his smoothest path to victory.

I can see why some in the GOP leadership might be intrigued by this idea. The base simply does not care for Romney. Newt probably can't win in the general. Ron Paul is a sincere libertarian -- no TARP for him, thank you -- and thus will never be allowed to get near the nomination.

The Bush name appeals to the Tea Party cranks and to the Establishment -- in other words, to the third of the country who remained stalwart Dubya supporters to the very end. However, I don't think the name has much appeal to anyone outside that 33 percent.

Jeb's spokesperson has denied that he has anything to do with the poll. However, there was a Florida poll in April matching Obama against Jeb Bush. Bush won handily, and even attracted a surprising amount of Democratic support.

Happy Friday, everyone. Enjoy:

The Rude Pundit: What Obama should have said when announcing the end of the Iraq Clusterf**k.

Limbo: A new Pew survey says Republicans are to blame for the do-nothing Congress.

Echidne of the Snakes: Newt says America is exceptional because it promotes the economic liberty of rich capitalists and screws everyone else.

Muddy Politics: Romney says he'd be a spineless sycophant on foreign policy. (At least you know what you're getting with Newt.)

Seeing the Forest: Republicans say they won't agree to anything (that helps the 99%) unless they get everything they want (for the 1%).

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction. I'll be here through Sunday.

Send tips to mbru@crooksandliars.com.

Matt Damon plays Santa at the Mall and finds out kids prefer "meeting Justin Bieber" and roller blades to a water bottle. Are these kids crazy? This middle-aged mother of three would be delighted to have "sitting for five whole minutes on Matt Damon's lap ...and a water bottle" for Christmas!!!

Open thread below....