"The stats are grim. About half of American workers are currently earning less than $30,000 a year. Median income in America peaked in 1999, and in 2015, median income was more than a thousand dollars below the 1999 level. Incredible! In the seven years President Obama has been in office, the median income has fallen. The American economy is not good, no matter how politicians try to spin it. Enter Hillary Clinton, who defined herself as a 'moderate' in September and now says she is a 'progressive Democrat.' I can tell you this - she is not a socialist. The Clintons live very well with two lavish homes, private jet flights and an enormous income stream. Mrs. Clinton's competition, Bernie Sanders, really is a hardcore socialist. He does not live high, he walks the walk. Unfortunately, the walk is lame. Socialism does not work and Sanders, promoting a guaranteed income for all Americans, is living on a planet far, far away. The truth is that Hillary Clinton is masquerading as a far left person so Sanders will not embarrass her in Iowa and New Hampshire. However, by doing so, she loses credibility. How would Hillary Clinton improve the economy? Nobody knows. And the economy definitely needs to be improved. A new study found that 63% of Americans say they are unable to handle a $500 car repair or a $1,000 emergency hospital room bill. It is clear many American homes are living week-to-week, an extremely dangerous situation. Hillary Clinton is a lock for the Democrat nomination and says she is now a progressive Democrat. But she's not."

The Factor invited Democratic strategist MaryAnn Marsh and conservative Andrea Tantaros to join the fray. "When it comes to herself she's a capitalist," Tantaros proclaimed, "but not when it comes to the rest of us. When it comes to the rest of us, she is a progressive and she will be Obama's third term. She will not help the middle class, she only cares about herself." Marsh, of course, took issue with that dismal assessment. "When it comes to the economy and restoring the middle class, Hillary Clinton's got it exactly right. To bring back the middle class we have to bring back manufacturing, and she will use the tax code to get people to invest in manufacturing."

FNC correspondent Ed Henry looked at the Clinton campaign's decision to ignore attacks from Donald Trump. "I was on the road with Bill Clinton this week," Henry reported, "and they knew that people like me would be trying to get him to respond to Donald Trump. So they came up with this strategy that they won't respond. They think that getting into a tit-for-tat with Donald Trump will be a race to the bottom, and they also know that every Republican who has tried to take Trump on has fallen badly. But the problem for Hillary Clinton is that she won't have this option if she faces Trump in the general election." The Factor concluded, "You will never beat Trump at this game, he is way too uninhibited and will say anything."

There have been some horrifying scenes in Germany, where packs of men, presumably Muslim immigrants, assaulted scores of women. The Factor spoke about one incident with London Times correspondent Allan Hall. "There was a mob of about a thousand men," Hall reported, "who were of Arabic or Middle Eastern appearance. They rampaged through the main train station at Cologne, surrounded women and sexually assaulted them." Fox News strategic analyst Lt. Col. Ralph Peters called this part of a growing and ominous trend. "Germany has taken in immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, and when any German tried to criticize that policy, the media and politicians would brand them as 'neo-Nazis.' Now there have been attacks in German cities and the first thing the authorities did was try to hush it up. This may be a turning point in the German attitude towards immigration."

Singer Nicki Minaj is the latest celebrity to perform in a nation ruled by a murderous thug. Others who have put on shows for dictators include Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and Usher. The Factor spoke about that issue with Monica Crowley and Eboni K. Williams. "I'm appalled but I am not surprised," Crowley said. "What outrages me most is the hypocrisy because most of these performers are known liberals who profess to support human rights. How is it okay for them to perform for some of the world's worst dictators?" Williams pointed to another blatant hypocrisy. "Most of the performers are women who perform in a way that is sexually suggestive. That is their right, but the women in these countries don't have those rights. That is the hypocrisy that bothers me and this is pure greed."

Some entertainers, among them Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, and Melissa Etheridge, are marketing their own brands of marijuana in states where pot is legal. Dennis Miller toked up and weighed in. "Snoop is the Ron Popiel of pot," he quipped. "This guy has done more for grass than Miracle Gro, he's the George Washington Carver of dank.* I don't think this is the end of the world, but I do think that when you take a sedentary, unmotivated, and uncurious population and you garnish it with a little weed, it doesn't augur well for the country. If we get much more lazy in this country, I'm going to start getting stoned. When in decline ... recline!"

* Dank: 'An expression frequently used by stoners and hippies for something of high quality.'

A new film from director Quentin Tarantino, who recently spoke at an anti-cop rally, is underperforming at the box office. The Factor asked industry observer Dominic Patten whether politics is playing a role. "Did Tarantino hurt himself," pondered Patten, "with those extremely ill-considered remarks about police officers? There have been boycotts all across the country by police unions, but he also went up against the new Star Wars movie." Meanwhile, on the TV front, outspoken liberal Stephen Colbert has not had much success with his late night talk show. TV critic David Zurawik analyzed Colbert's showing. "The thing most disappointing to me," Zurawik said, "is that I thought he would have a great impact on our political conversation by booking political figures in late night TV. But that didn't happen. CBS has to be worried because the ratings are not great." The Factor pointed out, "Colbert is replacing David Letterman, and when Letterman came out as a far-left guy his ratings dropped."

Paula Ruel, Franklin, MA: "Bill, you are right that President Obama does not understand criminal gangs and other fringe people are the main culprits of gun crimes."

Noel Bright, Wellington, New Zealand: "Sorry, Mr. O, the big picture is that the rest of the world knows America's gun laws are crazy."

John Galalty, Trumbull, CT: "Bill, your success is no different than Trump's. This country loves bloviators, and that's really all you have - along with good writers. That's the truth."

Vladimir Putin is a thug, a former KGB guy, and quite possibly a murderer. He is a menace to the world and the USA, so Donald Trump should be careful about putting him in a positive light, even when joking.