"The folks are indeed responsible for the government they get, and Americans now are faced with a very serious economic situation. This week the Government Accountability Office released its annual audit of the U.S. government. The conclusion: 'Absent policy changes, the federal government continues to face an unsustainable fiscal path.' If the feds do not stop the wild spending and do not reform Medicare and Social Security, the U.S. dollar will collapse. That means all of our savings and investments and everything else will blow up before our eyes. Chances are that you will not hear about the GAO report except on this program because the liberal media will not tell you what is going on. President Obama does not want to cut federal spending or entitlements and the media loves President Obama, so the folks be damned! Many Americans are too lazy to pay attention to their country; they're selfish, caught up in individual pursuits. Thus the federal government has been allowed by we the people to get out of control. So I have to play Paul Revere here, I have to continue to tell you the truth. But many Americans will not listen and many are not smart enough to even care. Disaster could be coming!"

In the wake of this dismal economic news, The Factor asked Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs why President Obama's approval rating is still around 50%. "It's inexplicable," Dobbs declared. "Here's a man who has raised taxes on nearly everybody and who has run up four consecutive trillion-dollar deficits. He has an economy that is not being returned to prosperity; 23-million people are still unemployed. I think people are smart enough to know there's a problem, but we have a national media that is part of this coalition of dependence on the Democratic Party. There's no aggressive watchdog that would normally be attacking the misadventures of those in power, we're in a new era."

The Factor was joined by FNC's Karl Rove, who has been observing President Obama's post-election demeanor. "Most presidents in their second term seem liberated from partisanship," Rove said, "but President Obama seems to be more confrontational, more partisan, more willing to fight Republicans and conservatives. Most second-term presidents try to achieve big things for the country by bringing people together, but not this guy!" Rove also opined on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who blasted the NRA for mentioning President Obama's children in a TV spot. "Remember that Governor Christie is from a blue state and he has to get reelected this year. He has a legitimate beef with the ad, but I think the underlying point of the NRA ad is a valid one. There is an elite in America which is comfortable with having guards in private schools but is dismissive of the idea that we ought to have law enforcement officials with guns in other schools as well."

Some liberal Americans were ecstatic when a New York newspaper printed the names and addresses of gun owners, but object when suspected illegal aliens are asked to provide identification. The Factor asked Democrats Zerlina Maxwell and Emily Tisch Sussman to explain the inconsistency. "Rights come with responsibility," Sussman said, "and that is the crux of the argument here. Gun owners understand that there limitations to the Second Amendment. There's always a balance between individual rights and the public good." Maxwell dismissed the notion that she and her fellow liberals are being hypocritical. "I do not see the hypocrisy here. An 11-year-old can find the names of gun owners in a Google search, it's part of the public record. So while I question the judgment of the newspaper, they didn't do something illegal. We on the left prioritize people's privacy." The Factor concluded with a rhetorical question: "How is the public good served by printing the names and addresses of innocent people who are exercising their right and own legal firearms?"

The Factor welcomed Andrew Seidel, whose atheist organization wants to end the tradition of having presidents sworn in with one hand on the Bible. "The Constitution does not say anything about the words 'so help me God,'" Seidel preached, "it says 'I will preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. George Washington did not say 'so help me God' at the end of his oath. Neither our laws nor our morality are founded upon the Bible; religion gets its morality from us, not the other way around. The Bible exhibits a Bronze Age morality that treats women as chattel and human beings as property." The Factor reminded Seidel that America is based on a religious tradition: "Washington peppered his inaugural address with the word 'God' because the Founding Fathers based the Constitution on inherent rights from God. When you get to Heaven you can debate George Washington."

Greg Gutfeld and Bernard McGuirk, The Factor's guys Friday, began with Lance Armstrong's admission that he was doping all along. "He realizes his career is over," Gutfeld said, "which is good because there's nothing more embarrassing than a man who is closing in on 50 and still wearing spandex. But he's also very smart, he understands that in America shame is dead! You can get away with anything and still have a second career. He will get a reality show, he will get a book deal, he will get a fragrance called 'I'm Sorry.'" McGuirk contended that Armstrong had financial reasons for coming clean. "He's doing it because the whole thing reached critical mass and all he wants to do is salvage some of the many millions of dollars that he made. Otherwise he'd wind up as a bicycle messenger on the streets of Manhattan." McGuirk also surmised that Armstrong was less than truthful in his interview with Oprah Winfrey. "He denied coercing his teammates, he denied bribing people, and he denied doing steroids after 2005. He was lying all over the place and I don't think he helped himself at all."

McGuirk and Gutfeld also tackled the story of Notre Dame football player Manti Te'o and his late but non-existent girlfriend. "Anyone who has an imaginary girlfriend for three years boggles the mind," McGuirk said. "Gutfeld probably has had imaginary girlfriends on the Internet for 20 minutes at a clip, but that's understandable." Gutfeld also opined on the now-notorious hoax. "Either he was hoaxed or he was in on the hoax and we still don't know. But any journalist could have figured this out, Notre Dame could have figured out that this was not a dame."

Pastor Michael Duncan, Darrington, WA: "Bill, great Talking Points Memo; do not let the machines take over your lives. I have preached on this very thing. Evil flourishes in the shadows. The Internet is full of shadows."

George Alexander, Sydney, Australia: "The Internet is not a machine. It's a means of communication. A rather bizarre Talking Points. What's tomorrow? Fear of the telephone?"

Wade Reid, Goose Creek, SC: "Bill, you're a pretty smart guy. Maybe you can explain to me what ever happened to common sense. This Te'o story is unbelievable."

Kenneth Besig, Israel: "Te'o's phony girlfriend is another sad example of how the media have been corrupted by lazy journalists."

When you're confronted by people who don't see things the same way as you, stand your ground, but keep your cool and rely on your wit.