WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Leftie Populism Still Looks Like A Loser. “Today the Gallup Organization has a new poll out that helps explain why leftie populism always looks like a good strategy but never seems to get anybody into the White House. By a significant margin, voters continue — even in the midst of tough economic times and rising economic inequality — to think it is more important to pursue pro-growth policies for the economy than to reduce inequality.”

NTSB AND CELL PHONES: Fudging The Numbers? “I had looked at the NTSB’s data on distracted driving, which is where you’ll find the 3,000 figure, and learned that of the distracted driving deaths, only 995 were attributable to cell phone use.”

Related: The Nanny State wants your cell phones.

UPDATE: Heh.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ed Morrissey: NTSB cell-use ban proposal an overreaction, and a waste of time. “So even though no one could tell whether the driver was even looking at his phone before the accident, the NTSB is insisting that all cell phone use, including hands-free calling, get banned, even though phone calls had nothing to do with the accident at all. Why ban phone calls if the NTSB blames texting for the accident? Well, as it turns out, texting while driving was already illegal in these circumstances.”

MORE: “This is a day for rejoicing. The forces of liberty have overwhelmed the forces of a world so green one would not have been able to read a traditional book by a traditional light bulb.”

GENEROSITY: Know a young visionary who deserves a large grant? Deadline Dec 31.

JORDAN WEISSMAN IN THE ATLANTIC ON The Dark Side Of America’s Growing Social Safety Net.

TRADE WAR? China Slaps Tariffs On American-Built Large Cars And SUVs.

LARRY WEBSTER: U.S. Needs Better Drivers, Not Cellphone Bans.

And if you missed it, here’s my piece on the subject from yesterday.

AT AMAZON, Holiday Deals in Health & Beauty.

Also, Manager’s Specials in Personal Care.

Plus, today only, a Garmin nuvi 2350LMT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Traffic & Map Updates, $129.99.

UPDATE: Reader Mark Alexander writes: “You should also let your readers know that on Amazon for $10 more they can get the 5-inch Garmin and save over 50%.” Thanks, Mark!

SAYING GOODBYE TO CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS.

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A HARVARD PROFESSOR? Liz Warren and Keystone.

This isn’t about partisan debate. There are legitimate points to debate on the economy and energy policy. But just shouting “No war for oil!” isn’t a debate. It’s adamant stupidity.

By the way, why aren’t we shouting “No war for oil!” anymore? If you really believed that, you’d support domestic drilling and the Canadian pipeline, right? Instead, the Liz Warren left starts with “No war for oil,” then “No oil from Canada,” “No nukes,” “No coal” and then the inevitable, “Hey — wait! My iPad just died and there’s no electricity to charge it. Where’s my oil?!”

Remember: They’re the smart ones.

Ouch.

UPDATE: Keystone: Stimulus that would actually create jobs. If they’re not jobs for bureaucrats of crony-capitalists, I don’t think they count.

THE HILL: Shutdown averted: Deal reached on $1T omnibus package. The rider to suspend the light-bulb ban stayed in. A victory for good sense! And an unexpected one.

AMAZON IS NOW OFFERING Free Super Saver Shipping Through Monday, for delivery by Christmas.

MY PJTV INTERVIEW WITH JOEL KOTKIN ON SUBURBIA is now up on YouTube.

LARRY KUDLOW: Keystone Blue-Collar Blues: Obama’s clean-energy obsession is alienating American hard hats.

BLINK: NASA Backs Off Its Document That Riled Private Space. “Earlier this year we reported on the fight brewing over the document NASA had drawn up to govern its dealing with private space companies. Those companies saw the possibility that NASA could exert control over designs, ask for changes, or delay projects. Today, NASA abruptly threw out the controversial document and said it would keep doing business the old way.”

Space policy, ironically enough, represents one of the Obama Administration’s few policy successes.

SUSANNAH BRESLIN: How To Get On TV. And why it matters: “I’ve written articles, and created blogs, and gotten profiled, and had my portrait taken, and been on the cover of a major newspaper, and interviewed celebrities, and talked on the radio, and been on TV. You know what people care about? That I was on TV.”

STRATEGERY: So When Should You Default On Your Mortgage?

As you can see, I think that people who are in financial trouble and cannot make their mortgage payment have a perfect right to walk away–and to do so as early as possible if there is no reasonable likelihood that their circumstances will change. On the other hand, I think that if modest lifestyle changes like less steak and more hamburger, less cable and more library books, can make your mortgage payment affordable, I think you have an obligation to make those changes. And if those changes aren’t even necessary–if the default is purely and simply because you would like the bank to eat the lost equity rather than you–I don’t think that’s right.

But for all the discussion of those people, I’m not sure how many of them there are. Some, undoubtedly–in a country as big as the US, there is always some jerk doing almost anything you can imagine. But given what we know about bankruptcy, I tend to think that the overwhelming majority of people walking away from their houses are doing so because they cannot support both the home, and a basic decent life for their families. Obviously, I also tend to think that’s how it should be.

Read the whole thing.

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Why Won’t Obama Say “Victory?”

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: U.S. ban on driver cell phone use not realistic.

RICHARD SALSMAN: Why Do Takers Obama and Gingrich Attack Creators Like Romney?

RULES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: State police defy order to release Lt. Gov. Tim Murray crash data.

BRYAN CAPLAN: “Wages Must Fall!”: What All Good Keynesians Should Say. Good luck with that.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS HAS DIED: Vanity Fair has the story.

IS IT A BAD SIGN WHEN FINANCIAL WEBSITES are talking about survival gear?

I think my post on low-budget disaster-prep is better, but maybe I’m kidding myself.

TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: Mark Steyn on double standards: “These two stories usefully clarify the peculiar pathology of the antiwar left. On the one hand, we need international investigations if Americans are insufficiently decorous in their questioning. On the other, it’s perfectly justifiable for disaffected Muslims to target Western civilians purely on the basis of their ethnic identity.”

BRYAN PRESTON: Showdown in Sioux City: Ron Paul’s Waterloo?

UPDATE: Thoughts from Ira Stoll.