The Factor Rundown
Fridays with Geraldo Segment
Want KILLING REAGAN Free?
Comments
|
Will bumbling congress reach deficit deal?
"By midnight on Monday the so-called 'Super Committee' is supposed to present the nation with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years. But the committee may not be able to come up with the cuts because they continue to argue about raising taxes. The Democrats, of course, want a tax hike on the affluent and business people; the Republicans, of course, do not, saying it would harm the economy. Here's the real deal: The 'Super Committee' should triple the amount of cuts and forget about tax increases for the moment. Next year, if the government shows the taxpayers it's serious about not wasting money, some targeted tax hikes might be considered. But I don't want my substantial tax check paying for Solyndra; I don't want it paying for $16 muffins; and I don't want to continue funding programs that don't work. If the Super Committee comes back next week with nothing, the stock market is going to implode and the American economy will be badly damaged. Are we Greece? Are we a nation that can't fix the out-of-control spending? Tax reform and entitlement reform - done fairly - can increase revenue and decrease the enormous debt, but it is insane to ask high-end taxpayers to pay more into a system that's clearly broken. So let's cut the crap, along with the spending."
|
|
|
Rick Perry in the No Spin Zone!
In a new TV ad, Texas Governor Rick Perry pounds President Obama for saying "we've been a little bit lazy over the last couple of decades." The Factor suggested that Perry may be taking the President's words out of context. "It's a fair ad," Perry insisted, "because this President has been apologizing for America. Then he gets on TV and says Americans are lazy and we've lost our ambition and imagination." The Factor contended that President Obama "really wasn't talking about the folks, he was talking about trying to get investment to come to the USA." Perry then upped the ante, accusing the President of being fundamentally at odds with American values. "I think he cares for America, but he truly misunderstands the values this country was based upon, which are free enterprise and the ability to risk your capital and have a chance to get a return on your investment. I think Barack Obama is a socialist."
|
|
|
Penn State fallout continues
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, despite knowing Jerry Sandusky was under investigation for alleged sexual child abuse, approved a $3 million grant to Sandusky's charity earlier this year. The Factor pursued the story with FNC's John Roberts and Philadelphia radio talk show host Dom Giordano. "Governor Corbett makes a good case," Giordano said. "He told me he held off on the grant and dragged his feet as long as he could, then when the state police told him an indictment was imminent he stopped the grant." Roberts raised some uncomfortable questions about the length of the grand jury investigation. "During those fifteen months, what might Jerry Sandusky have been up to? If he was suspected of molesting children, wasn't there some other way they could have moved in to stop his alleged crimes?"
|
|
|
Hollywood mystery: Cops reopen Natalie Wood death investigation
Thirty years after actress Natalie Wood fell off a yacht and drowned, the ship's captain has come forward with new information about that night. The Factor asked Geraldo Rivera to elucidate. "Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood," Rivera said, "were starring in a movie and decided to celebrate with Natalie's husband Robert Wagner. Wagner got angry because Natalie and Walken were spending too much time together. The captain now says he heard an argument between Wagner and Wood and then Natalie was missing. The question is whether she was pushed? There is some reasonable suspicion that something nefarious could have happened." The Factor pointed out that "authorities have characterized this as an accident."
|
|
|
Hot for Words: The Thanksgiving Edition
The Factor welcomed Marina, the Internet's most popular wordsmith, who dissected some Thanksgiving words. For example, feast: "It comes from two Latin roots," Marina explained. "Ferie means holiday and fanum means temple, so people were fasting and then when religious holidays came along they decided to eat, drink and go crazy." Pumpkins: "It comes from 'peponem,' which means melon in Latin." Cranberries: "When German settlers came to the New World, they saw those berries and gave them a German name - 'kraan' meaning a crane, and 'bere' meaning berry. They saw that the stamens of the plant looked like the beak of a crane." Pilgrims: "That is from the Latin 'peregrinus,' which means someone who travels from far away. I came all the way from Russia to America, so I can call myself a pilgrim."
|
|
|
Americans cities and states on the verge of bankruptcy
Many U.S. states and towns are in dire financial straits, with California facing the prospect of bankruptcy. The Factor was joined by Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal and Niles Gardiner of the conservative Heritage Foundation. "California's biggest problem," Gardiner said, "is overspending, a hugely bloated public sector, and tremendous union power. This is a state whose spending has been out of control for many years, if not decades." Moore identified another problem in the Golden State. "California has the most generous welfare benefits in the country. Illegal aliens and people from the rest of the country move there for the benefits. The other side of the problem is that California has virtually the highest income tax and the highest sales tax in the country. Productive people who start businesses are moving out." The Factor complained that "Governor Schwarzenegger did nothing about any of this."
|
|
|
Dumbest Things of the Week: Smithsonian museum collecting Occupy protest artifacts
Arthel Neville and Greg Gutfeld wrapped up the week with its dumbest, most idiotic people. Neville picked city officials in Berkeley who complained about the raid on Osama bin Laden. "They're upset," she reported, "because it was called 'Operation Geronimo,' which they say is insensitive to Native Americans. They want President Obama to apologize." Gutfeld went with the Smithsonian, which is gathering artifacts from the "Occupy" protests. "They want to collect things that represent the occupation, so I was thinking we should all send them diapers because the occupation was really a bunch of babies." The Factor singled out Barney Frank, who is blaming Republicans for the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Frank conveniently forgets that in 2008 he extolled Fannie and Freddie as "fundamentally sound."
|
|
|
Viewers sound off
Ravez Junejo, Sindh, Pakistan: "The Occupy Wall Street protest is a great example of the freedom that is denied to many in the Muslim world."
Tony Irvine, Tamarac, FL: "The protesters are costing cities a lot of overtime expense. The 99% are getting hurt."
Sharon Leutschaft, Redmont, OR: "Could it be that Ellen Barkin was looking for publicity by talking bad about you, Bill?"
The Cartells, Kent, OH: "Ellen is barkin' up the wrong tree when she attacks O'Reilly."
|
|
|
Regis signs off
Friday's Patriot: 80-year-old Regis Philbin, who said farewell to his viewers after 28 years co-hosting his daytime talk show.
|
|
|
|
|
|
