A Newsweek investigation found about five dozen of the most fiscally conservative Republicans “trying to gobble up the very largesse they publicly disown, in the time-honored, budget-busting tradition of bringing home the bacon for local constituents.”

“That’s what I find absolutely bizarre: Republicans moralizing about deficits. That’s like an arsonist moralizing about fire safety. These guys have zero credibility.”

— Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by the Orlando Sentinel, speaking to Florida Democrats.

First Read notes that with the Super Committee’s Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching, “the presidential race might actually take a back seat – at least for a few weeks — to what’s happening in Washington.”

“Of course, the same dividing lines that caused Boehner and Obama from failing to come to a grand bargain are still there. And now with political finger-pointing taking place among committee members themselves, this seems destined to end in stalemate. What’s worse: There’s talk the deadline of Nov. 23rd is not real. In fact, even the threatened automatic cuts, which wouldn’t go into effect until 2013, seem less real today. Who doesn’t envision Congress saying, ‘Well, no agreement, the automatic cuts will take place in 2013’ — only to have the lame duck Congress after the ’12 election react to the election results and go in another direction?”

Bloomberg: “A record 49% of Americans live in a household where someone receives at least one type of government benefit, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And 63% of all federal spending this year will consist of checks written to individuals for which the government receives currently no services, the White House budget office estimates. That’s up from 46% in 1975 and 18% in 1940.”

“Those figures will climb in coming years. The 75 million baby boomers have only begun their long march into retirement, while President Obama’s health-care overhaul will extend insurance coverage to more than 30 million additional people.”