"Worst Deal Since Munich" 

With the subtly of a sledgehammer, columnist Charles Krauthammer blasted Barack Obama's deal with Tehran, labeling it "the worst deal since Munich." Here are some excerpts of his remarks last night onFox News: 
 

• "Half a dozen times, the Security Council has passed resolutions which said Iran has to stop all enrichment otherwise there will be no change in sanctions, no relief. Which means six times China and Russia -- not exactly hardliners on Iran -- have signed on to this. 

  "And what is the result of this agreement? Iran retains the right to enrich. ...And remember, enrichment is the dam against all proliferation. Once a country anywhere can start to enrich there is no containing its nuclear capacity. So it undermines the entire idea of nonproliferation and it grants Iran a right it's been lusting for for a decade. That's why there was so much jubilation in Tehran over this. … 

  "This is a sham from beginning to end. It's the worst deal since Munich."

Obamacare Back Before Supreme Court 

The Supreme Court today announced that it would hear two cases challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare's contraception mandate. One of the cases involves Hobby Lobby's lawsuit against the mandate. 

At issue is whether the government can force Christian business owners and religious institutions to pay for medical services and products that violate their deeply-held values. Oral arguments will take place in the spring and a decision will likely be handed down in the summer. 

Today's Obamacare Disaster Update 
 

• Time's Mark Halperin acknowledged in a recent interview that Sarah Palin was right about Obamacare leading to rationing and "death panels." Halperin said, "It's built into the plan. It's not like a guess or like a judgment. That's going to be part of how costs are controlled." 
   
• Obamacare strikes again: Another cancer victim has lost her health insurance coverage BECAUSE OF OBAMACARE. 
   
• Obamacare is killing jobs at top U.S. hospitals. The Cleveland Clinic reports that Obamacare is forcing it to cut more than $100 million from its budget. 
   
• The December 1st re-launch of Healthcare.gov is just days away. Attempting to head off another round of bad press, an administration spokesman admitted yesterday, "The system will not work perfectly on Dec. 1," adding that users will face "periods of suboptimal performance." 

  Concerns about the site are so bad that the administration, according to one report, "has opened the door for Americans to circumvent the site altogether." Think about that: Hundreds of millions of your hard-earned tax dollars have been spent to create an Obamacare website that is so bad that the White House is now trying to figure out ways for folks to avoid using it! 
   

• Obamacare is struggling at the state level too. The Oregon exchange has signed up exactly 0 people. No, that's not a typo. No one has signed up through the Cover Oregon exchange.

  Community outreach efforts to promote Obamacare in New Mexico are falling flat. Not even free food can get people to show up. An event in Bloomfield was cancelled when just seven people signed up. Another seminar in Farmington attracted ten people. 

  When Presidents Lie 

  Big presidential lies take many forms. What they all share is the potential to sever the bond of trust between a president and the people he was elected to serve -- and therefore to destroy a presidency. And while it may lack the intrigue of Watergate or the Monica Lewinsky imbroglio, "If you like your plan, you can keep it" may very well have a similar effect on Obama: effectively ending his presidency more than three years before it officially concludes. 

  You can read more in my latest opinion piece at Politico.com. 

  Kudos To Michael Nutter 

  Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) put his city's teenagers on notice Monday night: Play the "knockout game" and you'll pay a severe price. In a stern warning to youth and their parents, Mayor Nutter said: 

  < >"This is not a game. You can seriously injure or possibly kill someone. Your child's life will be dramatically changed, and probably yours as well as a parent. So let's cut out the nonsense. … There's no excuse for this kind of behavior, it will not be tolerated here in the city. …[W]e will catch you. You'll be prosecuted, and your life will be changed dramatically."
  Good for him. This isn't the first time Mayor Nutter has addressed crime in the black community when other liberals, including Barack Obama, have been strangely silent. Mayor Nutter and I probably don't agree on much, but I applaud his willingness to speak up in defense of commonsense values.