SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:37 P.M. ET:

AMERICANS' FINANCES DECLINE – From Gallup:  "WASHINGTON, D.C. - More Americans, 42%, say they are financially worse off now than they were a year ago, reversing the lower levels found over the past two years. Just more than a third of Americans say their financial situation has improved from a year ago."  I love living in Obooma times.

HE'D UNDERSTAND IT – From AFP:  "London (AFP) - Thieves tried to steal the ashes of the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud and his wife from a crematorium in London, severely damaging a 2,400-year-old urn that housed their remains, police said Wednesday."  The ashes have forgiven the thieves and recommended ten sessions of group therapy and acting out.

WE'RE SLIPPING – A new report from The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation asserts that the U.S. has slipped out of the top ten nations in terms of economic freedom.  We're now twelfth:  "The Obama administration continues to shackle entire sectors of the economy with regulation, including health care, finance and energy. The intervention impedes both personal freedom and national prosperity.  But as the U.S. economy languishes, many countries are leaping ahead, thanks to policies that enhance economic freedom—the same ones that made the U.S. economy the most powerful in the world. Governments in 114 countries have taken steps in the past year to increase the economic freedom of their citizens."

DEM BIGWIG BLASTS WHITE HOUSE ON IRAN – From The Hill:  "House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) hammered the White House on Tuesday for suggesting that lawmakers urging tougher Iran sanctions are advocating for war.  Hoyer emphasized that he's 'sensitive to the administration's concern' that the Iran sanctions proposals floating in both the House and Senate could undermine fragile bilateral talks designed to freeze Iran's nuclear program and prevent the development of weapons. But recent comments from administration officials implying that sanction supporters want a march to war, he said, are 'irresponsible' and demand a retraction."  There has been no retraction.  The White House is tougher on Congress than on Iran.

January 15,  2013