IF IT’S WRONG TO USE SLAVERY AS A METAPHOR, what about all those SEIU types going on about “slave wages?”

PETER WEHNER: Obama’s “Coalition of the Ascendant” Is Collapsing.

Related: Obama Approval Down Most Among Hispanics in Past Year. A 23% drop in less than a year.

SPYING: Microsoft Condemns US Government As An “Advanced Persistent Threat.”

TRIFECTA OF PAIN: Brian Preston: There’s Hope, for a Change: Obama Is Losing Big With Three of His Most Important Demos.

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obamacare Is Costing Democrats the White Women They’ll Need at the Ballot Box.

It’s not the voters who hate Obamacare the most who are going to matter in next year’s elections. It’s the independents who frequently side with Democrats but could, if propelled by a distaste for the health care law, take a serious look at the GOP in 2014. And on this front, Democrats have a big problem with one of their most crucial constituencies—white women.

Polling provided to National Journal by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that white women have soured considerably on the law, especially in the month since its botched rollout. The skepticism runs especially deep among blue-collar women, sometimes known as “waitress moms,” whose deeply pessimistic attitudes toward the Affordable Care Act should riddle Democratic candidates with anxiety.

Certainly, the law’s unpopularity gives Republicans a tool to counter the Democratic claim of a GOP “war on women”—something Republicans failed miserably at in 2012. But more significantly, it demonstrates that Democrats will have to fight just to retain core elements of their constituency. With 2014’s most important campaigns already lying in hostile territory like Alaska, Arkansas, and South Dakota, it’s a battle many of these candidates can ill afford.

The Kaiser poll, which has been conducted monthly since Obamacare’s inception, shows the law has never been a big hit with white women. But this group’s opinions took a sharply negative turn in the November results.

They’re used to smooth-talking guys whose promises don’t pan out.

ANNALS OF SMART DIPLOMACY: Senate Dem to Obama: Begging Karzai to Sign Agreement Makes U.S. Look No. 2. To be fair, we’ve been in deep No. 2 since Obama was elected.

MICHAEL BARONE: Obamacare’s architects plugged their ears and misled public.

THUG NATION: Elizabeth Warren threatens companies she suspects of funding public criticism of her.

WHITE HOUSE ADMITS THAT OBAMA STAYED WITH UNCLE, despite earlier denials.

HAVE YOU NO DECENCY, SIR? Piers Morgan Tries and Fails to Enlist Rick Warren in His Anti-Gun Crusade.

CHARLIE MARTIN: The End of Poverty in America: Figures don’t lie.

According to a Cato Institute study published last year, the combined expenditures for Federal and state governments directed to means-tested public assistance — “welfare” — is approximately $1 trillion (yes, with a “T”) a year.

There are approximately 48 million people in the US with incomes at the poverty level or below.

The application of advanced mathematics — long division, and I did it in my head thank you very much — tells us that’s about $21,000 per person per year. Obviously, that’s $84,000 for a family of four.

That’s got a problem, though. According to the 2013 Federal Poverty Guidelines, the poverty level for a family of four is $23,950. The total of $84,000 is roughly 380 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

Obviously, there’s no poverty left in America.

Unless, of course, that money isn’t actually being spent on the poor people at all. I wonder where it goes?

Indeed.

I WILL SOON LIFT A GLASS IN CELEBRATION: On this day in 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified, thus repealing Prohibition.

AT THE ROOT OF MANY MARRIAGE PROBLEMS: “While our culture becomes more sexualised than ever before, we’re less likely actually to be having sex, and we’re certainly not talking about it – even to professionals like myself. I call it the silent epidemic.”

This goes back to our “maintenance sex” discussion.

AT AMAZON, coupons galore in Kitchen & Dining.

Also in Grocery & Gourmet Food.

Plus, Vitamins & Dietary Supplements.

NELSON MANDELA has died.

REAL ESTATE: The Bogus Brands of Brooklyn.

IT’S OBVIOUSLY AN ALIEN BASE: Cassini Captures Amazing High-Res Animation of Saturn’s Mysterious Hexagon.

We’ve been over this before. Wake up, sheeple!

A CURIOUS MIXTURE of hedonism and puritanism.

NOW THEY TELL US: Diagnosis for Healthcare.gov: Unrealistic Technology Expectations.

AT AMAZON, save up to 55% in Holiday Deals on Books. Also, deals on Children’s books.

Plus, deals on music.

And, Kindle Countdown Deals. Get ’em while they last!

F.I.R.E.: The Harvard Bait and Switch: Harvey Silverglate on the University’s Free Speech Fakery.

MURFREESBORO, TN: Local Filmmakers’ Wrecking Ball Parody Going Viral.

FASTER, PLEASE: Bacteria-Killing Protein Could Help Fight Antibiotic-Resistant ‘Superbugs.’

STEPHEN GREEN, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Do Smarter People Drink More?

JOE PAPPALARDO: Drone Is Not a Four-Letter Word: Try to relax—unmanned aircraft are not here to hurt you. So try not to shoot them. Note: May not apply in Waziristan.