Huckabee Denies 'whores' Report

The President’s speech yesterday on inequality avoided the “R” word. No politician wants to mention “redistribution” because it conjures up images of worthy “makers” forced to hand over hard-earned income to undeserving “takers.”But as low-wage work proliferates in America, so-called takers are working as hard if not harder than anyone else, and often at more than one job.

[] an uptick in growth and a downturn in unemployment give him a stronger story line going into the 2014 congressional election year and provide Democrats with a counterpoint to Republican attacks on Obama's health law. The economy has pushed ahead despite a government shutdown, edge-of-the-cliff deals on the debt, and indiscriminate budget cuts that were supposed to hold back the recovery. The unemployment rate dropped to a 5-year-low of 7 percent in November, employers created 203,000 jobs, the stock market is roaring, home purchases are up, and manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace in 2½ years. [] Obama's fortunes have seesawed for months, marked by ups and downs on foreign and domestic policy. What's more, there are worries that the stock market could grow into an unsustainable bubble, that Washington could replay fiscal brinkmanship, and that the rollout of the health law could hit another major obstacle. Jason Furman, the chairman of the president Council of Economic Advisers, said Friday that the reduced growth in health care costs and the domestic energy boom that has reduced oil imports have helped the manufacturing industry. Obama this past week issued an aspirational call to correct the nation's income disparities and to adopt policies that help Americans move up the economic ladder. Longer term, he has called for an increase in the minimum wage, an overhaul of higher education and increased training for a high-tech workforce.

The lead lawyer in the state Attorney General Office’s fraud lawsuit against Wall Street titan Maurice “Hank” Greenberg caught a free ride on Greenberg’s private plane — possibly an ethics violation.

New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is kicking off a new fund-raising drive to help pay for his “transition and inauguration” — charging $25,000 or $50,000 to rub elbows with incoming mayor.

President Obama illuminated the live, 31-foot Colorado spruce on the Ellipse by the White House, keeping a tradition launched in 1923 by predecessor Calvin Coolidge.

Joe Biden's granddaughter Finnegan gets her turn at an Asia adventure after her stylish older sister made a splash visiting China with the vice president in 2011. The 15-year-old middle daughter of the Biden's second son Hunter has joined her famous grandfather and dad for the veep's Asia tour, with stops in Japan, China and South Korea.