On The O'Reilly Factor...

• Talking Points Memo & Top Story
  The budget brawl gets personal
• Impact Segment
  Obama 'birther' nonsense continues
• Personal Story Segment
  Miley Cyrus' family situation deteriorates
• Miller Time Segment
  Dennis Miller on the 2012 presidential field
• Back of Book Segment
  Did you see that?
• Factor Mail
  Viewers sound off
• Pinheads and Patriots
  You decide who's who!
  
  

All content taken from The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Each weeknight by 6 PM EST a preview of that evening's show will be posted and then updated with additional information the following weekday by noon EST.

"For the first time in my life the federal government is being held accountable for how it spends tax money. Because of the debt crisis, federal spending is under siege and over the next few years we can expect many government programs to be abolished. Stuff like subsidies for PBS and NPR and funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood. Of course, that is angering some on the left. Enter the uber-liberal George Soros and his MoveOn organization. They know Planned Parenthood may lose federal funding, so they created an ad warning that 'the Republican Party launched an all-out assault on women's health ... trying to send women back to the back alley.' That ad, of course, is insane. Nobody is trying to send women to the back alleys - if Planned Parenthood believes it is doing good for America, let it raise money privately. But you can see how emotional the debate is becoming. The MoveOn ad is a perfect illustration of the hysteria that is bubbling over the debt crisis. The question is, will Americans respond to that sort of propaganda and will politics once again stop fiscal reform? The bottom line is that the United States is broke and all non-essential government spending has to stop. Period."

Political strategist Dick Morris analyzed the MoveOn ad and its possible impact. "I don't think that ad will have any effect at all," Morris said. "There's been about a ten-point shift in the last five to ten years in favor of pro-life and away from pro-choice, and about 75% of Americans oppose using tax money to pay for abortions. So the Republicans are on solid political ground in what they're trying to do, and any spending cut is broadly popular at this point with the American people." The Factor warned that opponents of cuts are just getting started: "This is the first salvo, and I agree that it's not going to get any traction. But then you're going to hear that we're 'hurting the kids.' In the past this kind of demonization has worked."

For an opposing view, The Factor welcomed Leslie Marshall and Erica Payne. "This will affect lower income women," Marshall said of the proposed cuts. "Two-thirds of the federal money Planned Parenthood uses is for preventative care, whether it's screening for cancer or infertility help, and the funds are utilized for people who are lower income." Payne cast the issue in terms of gender. "We have a Senate that's dominated by men and a House that's dominated by men, so we have a bunch of men trying to decide a women's issue. Women are really the backbone of the American family, so we should do whatever we can to support them." The Factor reminded Marshall and Payne that the federal government is $14 trillion in debt: "Both of you liberal ladies, as well-intentioned as you are, are not getting this fiscal crisis."

Some fringe conservatives continue to question President Obama's citizenship, while some liberals seem to actually encourage the so-called "birthers." Former Bush adviser Karl Rove contended that the Obama administration benefits from the controversy. "The President could come out and say here are the documents," Rove said, "but the White House is happy to have this controversy continue because every moment that conservatives talk about this, they marginalize themselves in the minds of independent voters. And every moment we spend talking about this is a moment we can't spend talking about the failed stimulus bill, the reckless spending, Obama-care, his failures in foreign policy, and his failure to live up to the promises he made in 2008. He was born in Hawaii and we need to stop falling into the trap of the White House and focus on the real issues." The Factor complained that "there is an element of the Republican Party that's far right and really loves this kind of discourse."

Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, father of 18-year-old Miley Cyrus, recently complained that Miley's hit show Hannah Montana "destroyed my family." The Factor discussed the issue with former child star Danny Bonaduce and psychologist Dr. Keith Ablow. "The pressures on somebody who is constantly in the public eye are different," Ablow said, "and those pressures mount prematurely in any family in which a child has been 'lent out' to work. Allowing her to take that role was his decision, and any child star is at risk because they're being prostituted out to some extent." Bonaduce vehemently disagreed with Ablow's diagnosis. "If it weren't for Hannah Montana 'ruining' Miley Cyrus' life, you know what would be ruining her life? A guy named Steve who worked at Dairy Queen. It's a teenage girl's job to have her life ruined, that's what they do. But she has a $200 million cushion that has been put away."

Dennis Miller began by taking direct aim at President Obama's proposed budget. "When the President says I have to spend $3.7 trillion to save you a trillion," Miller observed, "I'm thinking is there Secretary of Treasury Bernie Madoff now? These guys run better pyramid schemes than the Egyptians!" Miller moved to Republican Congressman Ron Paul, a presidential favorite among libertarians. "Some of what Ron Paul says makes sense to me - if we're not fighting these wars to win, his idea of building a wall around the whole country is starting to sound good. But I don't think Ron Paul has a chance in 2012, some of his devotees are a little too weird." Miller concluded by handicapping the GOP field for 2012. "Romney has to shake it up - if I were him, I'd come to a press conference in a Mohawk, like DeNiro in 'Taxi Driver.' Chris Christie can't run because he's going to have more heart attacks than Fred Sanford during sweeps week. Huckabee's not leaving Fox for the White House, so I think it comes down to Tim Pawlenty and Mitch Daniels. Whoever it is, I hope they pick Marco Rubio as their VP because he's sharp and we need the Spanish vote."

This week an IBM supercomputer has been besting two former champions on TV's Jeopardy. Entertainment reporter Shira Lazar analyzed the long-awaited man vs. machine brawl. "IBM spent four years on this supercomputer," Lazar reported, "which has 16 terabytes of RAM and requires a whole room just for its servers. What makes this computer stand out is that it can interpret human language. This is a Super Bowl for geeks, it's really fascinating." Lazar theorized that intelligent machines will generally be a force for good. "Computers will be able to process information more efficiently than humans, and in the future doctors will use this to figure out symptoms and help patients."

Rob Waldron, Greenville, NC: "The Department of Education needs the $77 billion to pay the salaries of people employed by the Dept. of Ed."

Stacy Hollis, Franklin, IN: "Mr. O, education has changed quite a bit since you were in school. As a teacher, I know there is no comparison."

Win Walker, Jeffersonville, IN: "I thought Jesse Watters did not handle the ambush interview well. He was very arrogant with the guy."

Wednesday's Patriot or Pinhead: Justin Bieber, who gave a creditable impersonation of President Obama. Was the teen pop star's impression patriotic or pinheaded? You can decide by voting here on BillOReilly.com. Tuesday's P or P asked about Former First Lady Barbara Bush, who joked that her husband could be Speaker of the House when he got choked up during a TV interview. 62% of you lauded Mrs. Bush as patriotic.