MURDERER-IN-CHIEF? The Deadly Impact of President Obama’s Economic Policies: 59,757 Needless Deaths. . . and Counting. Just remember, as Plouffe or Axelrod probably said once, one death is a tragedy, 59,757 Needless Deaths are a statistic.

I DUNNO, GEORGE JEFFERSON DIDN’T BUILD THAT DRY CLEANING BUSINESS: What ‘The Jeffersons’ Taught Me About Being an American: An Iranian immigrant on the lessons he learned from George and Weezie.

AN OBAMA WELFARE DEBACLE? “Mitt Romney is hammering President Obama on welfare reform, and for good reason. The 1996 welfare reform legislation was overwhelmingly popular, was a great bipartisan achievement, stands as a policy success and comports with Americans’ deepest values about personal responsibility and the work ethic. And Obama tosses that aside, for reasons that still seem perplexing. Is there some anti-work welfare contingent out there? It’s inexplicable both on policy and political grounds.”

ROLL CALL: Romney Uses Clinton Against Obama. “Mitt Romney on Tuesday launched an aggressive attack on President Obama’s economic platform, accusing the administration of ‘gutting’ the bipartisan welfare reforms championed by President Clinton 16 years ago. In a full-court press of campaign speeches, cable news interviews and a new television ad, Romney repeatedly invoked Clinton to hammer Obama for granting new flexibility to state welfare programs.”

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CREDIBILITY: ‘Be Mindful of Your Sources,’ Says White House that has Accused Romney of Felony and Murder.

ANNALS OF THE 1%: Business Week: How Incredible Are the Homes of Obama’s Donors? Take a Look.

SAYING GOODBYE TO RUSS CARNAHAN, while welcoming aboard Jon Lovitz.

ROGER SIMON: Fear And Shame On The Campaign Trail.

Anyone who doubts the enduring power of the mainstream media need look no further than the rise in Romney’s unfavorables in a recent Pew Poll. Yes, this poll is likely skewed, but the percentages are too extreme to escape the conclusion that a large number of Americans do not find Mitt “Mr. Nice Guy.” (I met him and thought he was perfectly okay — but what do I know?) Obama, on the other hand, is still considered a swell fellow.

All this although the economy has been a disaster throughout his presidency and, for the last year, probably more, he has seemed a petulant prig when confronted with the slightest criticism. Not an attractive trait.

You would think under those conditions those poll numbers would be reversed and the election polls themselves would show Romney with a gigantic lead, but no. Like a nation of ostriches, huge portions of the American public have swallowed the media/Axelrod line that Mitt Romney is a rich self-interested capitalist out of touch with the masses, whoever they are and whatever that means(it doesn’t matter as long as they vote for Obama), hell-bent on robbing from the poor to give to the rich like a reverse Robin Hood.

In other words, a large portion of the American public has effectively been brainwashed. And the brainwashers are the Democratic Party and the mainstream media. The former is quite understandable since political parties cling to power by virtually any means when threatened. But for the media it’s another matter. Why do these people persist in their views in a situation where, objectively, almost any corporation or business would have been looking for new leadership long ago? Why are they so destructive to our society and ultimately to themselves? Don’t they have children and grandchildren?

Read the whole thing.

HARRY REID TO RETIRE . . . in 2016? Sooner, please.

TODAY IS INSTAPUNDIT’S 11TH BLOGGIVERSARY! When I started it, I certainly never thought about such an occasion.

MICKEY KAUS ON PLOUFFE’S PAYDAY:

Doesn’t Obama aide David Plouffe’s $100,000 speaking gig stink, even without the Iran connection of the firm that paid him? a) It’s just too much money.** I’ve seen Plouffe talk. He’s a smart guy. But he’s not a $100,000 speaker, or even a $30,000 speaker. He’s not Colin Powell, or Bill Clinton, or Beyonce. What did he think his benefactors–a telecommunications firm called MTN Group–thought they were getting for their 100Gs? Just a short talk (on “digital communications”)? There is some kind of bonus there for Plouffe. What was it for?; b) Plouffe was incoming, not outgoing–he joined the White House staff a few weeks later. It’s hard to believe MTN didn’t entertain the idea that it was making a strategic investment in a powerful new U.S. official; c) Maybe Plouffe had no intention of doing anything for MTN, and if they were stupid enough to pay him that much money for a generic talk … . In other words, he was shamelessly exploiting them. That might be something to laugh about at $10,000 or $20,000. It’s kind of disgusting at $100,000. ….

P.S.: Why do I suspect that Plouffe (like Colin Powell) is a good source–and that the reporters who use him will protect him if they can? … Also, journalists are on the same buckraking gravy train as Plouffe was, of course. . . . Best not to make a fuss and draw attention to this little secret. It’s the only way D.C. journalists can keep up with D.C. lawyers.

Plus, the advantages of strategic Volkswagenization.

MOST TRANSPARENT ADMINISTRATION EVER: Obama Administration Goes After Wired “Danger Room” Blog.

ED DRISCOLL: Hey, Who’s Up for Another Nightmarish Viral Video Ad?

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Fed study says Bush and the banks didn’t cause the Great Recession. The Fed did.

JONAH GOLDBERG: No More Boring White Guys For The GOP.

HITTING A PLOUFFE PATCH: “The South African company that paid senior White House adviser David Plouffe $100,000 in December 2010 to deliver two speeches is closely aligned with the Syrian government, helping the regime of President Bashar al-Assad prosper as the embattled government violently cracks down on its citizens.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking. “Apple tech support gave the hackers access to my iCloud account. Amazon tech support gave them the ability to see a piece of information — a partial credit card number — that Apple used to release information. In short, the very four digits that Amazon considers unimportant enough to display in the clear on the web are precisely the same ones that Apple considers secure enough to perform identity verification. The disconnect exposes flaws in data management policies endemic to the entire technology industry, and points to a looming nightmare as we enter the era of cloud computing and connected devices.”

BRAIN EXPERIMENT CALLING FREE WILL INTO QUESTION may be wrong.

CLOSING FRONTIERS? Startups Worry that Twitter and Facebook Are Blocking Their Way.

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NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to Keep India’s Lights On.

AN INTERVIEW WITH Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business.

GENE HEALY: Take Me Down To The Parasite City.

Have you seen the latest jobs report? Major buzzkill: creeping unemployment, anemic growth, and the recovery’s totally stalled.

But not here: The District is booming! “Washington may have the healthiest economy of any major metropolitan area in the country,” says New York Times D.C. bureau chief David Leonhardt in Sunday’s Gray Lady. “You can actually see the prosperity”!

Yes we can! Construction cranes dominate the downtown skyline, and your average homeless guy can barely grab a stretch of sidewalk before yet another boutique store pops up to bounce his bedroll.

True, if you venture outside the Death Star’s orbit to visit the colonies for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you’ll see a lot of boarded-up storefronts. You might even feel a twinge of shame when Matt Drudge feeds you headlines like “D.C. Leads List of Most Shopaholic Cities in America.”

Whatever: Guilt is for losers!

Sure, the Capital City thrives while the provinces starve. But hey, how about those Olympics? There’s a book in this setup somewhere. . . .

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Women Gossip.