Open Thread

Today's starter topic: Liberals fancy themselves to be the best proponents of free speech and tolerance. But when actual political speech is at issue rather than theoretical speech, their boasts are often revealed to be mere posturing. That's why we thought it'd be nice to start off today's OT by giving some well-deserved praise to Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen for mounting a solid defense for political speech against the self-interested censors of the liberal press:

Two big showdowns this week: One with an upset and one that went mostly as planned. Comment on this post on the New Hampshire primary or the BCS football championship. Yesterday was it for college football but the next big game in the Republican presidential race is January 21, 11 days away. What are your predictions for that state?

Today we have two topics for you on OT. The first is that today is the New Hampshire primary in the Republican presidential race. All reports indicate that Mitt Romney will be a big winner in the state. Fellow candidate Jon Huntsman has bet the farm on the small Northeastern state. Will he drop out if he doesn't do well? Will we see any other dropouts or does New Hampshire just not matter very much in this presidential cycle?

The second topic for today is yet another example of how liberals don't practice what they preach. Big-time Obama supporters Beyonce Knowles and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter" apparently rented an entire hospital floor in New York City and then had the gall to deny other parents in the hospital the ability to see their own children:

Besides abysmal sales, the Obama Administration's favorite car, the Chevrolet Volt, is now facing some seriously bad news: GM announced today that it is recalling 8,000 of the vehicles sold in the past two years (though it's refusing to call it a recall) due to safety concerns about the Volt's battery casing:

The results are in from last night's Iowa presidential caucuses and it appears Mitt Romney has pulled off a 7-vote victory, apparently the closest ever in the history of Iowa. Second place went to Rick Santorum, whose low-budget campaign came from nowhere to nearly first. Ron Paul took third.

Exit questions: We know his showing in Iowa will be a boon to Rick Santorum but how much will the Hawkeye Cauci matter to the other candidates? Do you think there will be some changes in the media's coverage of the campaign?

Today's starter topic: The Iowa caucuses are tomorrow and the final poll of the state, released by the liberal Des Moines Register newspaper, indicates Mitt Romney in the lead, just barely ahead of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum in third place.

Do the Iowa caucuses matter anymore? Will you be keeping an eye on the events of tomorrow or are you going to check in once they're all over?

You would think given the utter failure that Democratic presidential campaigns have had with class warfare rhetoric--John Edwards, John Kerry, Al Gore, and Walter Mondale come to mind--that their strategists would have realized long ago that the politics of envy just don't work.

Unfortunately, however, that hasn't been the case, as President Obama has embraced with abandon attacks on his fellow Americans (while at the same time keeping an open door for the very richest to give and receive favors). This time around, class warfare is not working too well, either, as political analyst Michael Barone writes:

Despite the left's newfound embrace of class-warfare and the politics of envy, in the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats are being led by one of the richest people in America, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco. That may not be a long-term trend, though, if you consider what her daughter, a journalist and documentary film-maker, said recently--that her mother wants to leave Congress:

She would retire right now, if the donors she has didn’t want her to stay so badly. They know she wants to leave, though. They think she’s destined for the wilderness. She has very few days left. She’s 71, she wants to have a life, she’s done. It’s obligation, that’s all I’m saying.

That's quite a stunning thing for a member of Congress's daughter to say about her, particularly to conservative journalist, Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, writing at Big Government. It's starting to look as though Pelosi may retire should Democrats do poorly in the 2012 races. What are your thoughts?

While ideas for Herman Cain's future have been tossed around - including hosting a TV show - Cain knows that he will not be running again for office in the near future, blaming the harmful "false accusations" of "lazy journalism."

According to an interview with the Daily Caller, Cain said "he doesn’t regret running for the White House, saying his 9-9-9 tax reform plan sparked a discussion among the GOP candidates about reforming the tax system," and added that if the media hadn't been so caught up in the accusations, he "would be the front-runner heading into Iowa, absolutely."

What do you think Cain's future will involve? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

In what could become a major battle between several newspaper unions and the New York Times, according to the New York Post, the Communications Workers of America has already earmarked $350,000 to put towards the conflict that could arise.

The Newspaper Guild and the Mailers Union Local 6 have both been without contracts since March 31. Both of these unions sent letters in October to Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the chairman and publisher of the Times, and Janet Robinson, then-president and CEO. The letters explained that given the Times' current financial situation, there is a very grim picture for the hundreds of employees that these unions represent at the Times, and also claim that the Times is backing down on previous lifetime job guarantees.

What do you think of labor unions coming back to bite the Times? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Are you watching the GOP presidential debate tonight? If so, consider joining us live here at NB as we watch the event. It airs at 9pm tonight on FNC as well as on the Fox News website. We'll be posting videos and fact-checks throughout the night but if you want to add your own analysis or snark, this is the place to do it.

Update: The event is over. Please use this post as an open thread on the debate.

In May of this year when Rep. Paul Ryan had released his budget plan, Newt Gingrich described the plan as "too big a jump" and "right-wing social engineering." Ryan responded, "with allies like that, who needs the Left?" Gingrich's campaign was nearly ended, and much of his staff quit shortly after. After a public backlash, Gingrich apologized to Ryan, but the episode still didn't leave the minds of many. Now seven months later, Gingrich adviser Greg Ganske says that Gingrich is in a strong position to win over Ryan supporters, but a new Mitt Romney campaign ad is hoping to prevent that from happening.

Do you think Paul Ryan could play a major role in who voters decide to support? Check out more analysis after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The New York Post reported over the weekend that Rev. Al Sharpton's nonprofit company held $1.6 million in debt, and Sharpton's entire empire, which also includes the National Action Network and two for-profit companies, held a combined debt of $5.3 million. The National Action Network's debt stemmed mostly from nearly $1 million in unpaid federal payroll taxes, interest, penalties, and settlements for the unpaid bills. Sharpton himself, who earned a $241,732 salary from his nonprofit, reportedly owes the IRS $2.6 million in income taxes and almost $900,000 in state taxes.

Earlier this year, Sharpton advocated raising taxes on the rich to reach a debt ceiling deal. Do you think the media will pick up on Sharpton's taxation hypocrisy?

Despite a massively expensive 2009 stimulus program, high unemployment and a sluggish economy have been trademarks of the Obama administration. The goal of the stimulus was to create shovel-ready jobs, with, according to top Obama economic advisor Larry Summers, a "targeted," "temporary," and "timely" scope. As many predicted, the stimulus failed to produce the Keynesian results it promised.

Check out a new Reason.tv video of why stimulus dollars cannot fix the economy after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

It seems President Obama's speeches on class warfare, big government, and comments on American laziness haven't worked in his favor. According to ABC News, the number of registered Democrats in battleground states for next year's election has dropped by nearly one million. Some of his supporters contend that Obama will still win the independent vote, where many of those Democrats have gone.

Do you think Obama can win the independent vote in 2012? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.