On Tonight's Kudlow Report

This evening at 7pm ET:

STOCK MARKET DRILLDOWN
CNBC’s Brian Shactman reports.


THE DEMISE OF THE DOLLAR?
Where there's smoke there's fire…

Panel:

*Joseph LaVorgna, Deutsche Bank Chief U.S. Economist
*Adam Boyton, Deutsche Bank Sr. Currency Strategist, Fmr. Australian Treasury Official
*Andrew Busch, BMO Capital Markets; CNBC Contributor

GOLD STOCKS
Joining us to discuss will be Tom Winmill, Portfolio Manager The Midas Fund (MIDSX).

IS A FISCAL CONSERVATIVE 'AWAKENING’ AT HAND?

Rep. Mike Pence, (R, Indiana) will be aboard with his perspective on government spending, taxes, and how to create real economic growth.

STOCKS SHRUG OFF DOLLAR

*Rich Karlgaard, Forbes Publisher; "Life 2.0" Author
*Michael Cuggino, Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds President & Portfolio Manager

THE HOLIDAY RETAIL FORECAST
CNBC’s Jane Wells takes a look.

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR'S RACE
-Is this a harbinger of the midterms?
-Reflection of Obama's lost political capital

Bob McDonnell, (R) Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate will join us.

Please join us. The Kudlow Report. 7pm ET. CNBC.

Obama’s Olympic Blunder

First off, a big congratulations to Brazil. They are a rising nation—so good for them. That said, the Olympic rejection of Chicago in Copenhagen is deeply troubling to me. When a president acts on a last minute whim, as Obama did, there are huge international consequences.

Was President Obama trying to save Mayor Daley's re-election? I don't know. If he did have a higher motive, one rooted in broad based Olympic Americana, fine. But here's the deal: his failed five-hour whirlwind trip harmed American interests and American prestige around the world.

Obama’s ducks were never set in a row. Hence, the risk of defeat was simply far too great. It showed poor presidential judgment. Obama is playing with the prestige of the greatest country in the world, and the most powerful office in the world. This is precious capital. It must not be squandered; it must be harbored and protected carefully. It wasn’t.

It’s obvious that neither he, nor his inner circle of Chicago advisors, understood the inner workings of the International Olympic Committee, as evidenced by that lopsided vote. It was a huge mistake. Moreover, the IOC surely knew the polls showed half of Chicago was against it.

Coming back from Copenhagen empty-handed, President Obama now faces big questions like the one recently posed by my good friend Doug Kass: Does this symbolize the end of America’s financial and economic hegemony?

The conduct of international relations—both symbolically and operationally—is a delicate high wire act. It of the greatest importance in protecting both the security and reputation of the U.S.

Obama bungled this.

No, it's not the end of the world, but it is a big-time and ill-timed set-back.

More Unemployment Benefits Will Backfire

I’d like to weigh in on reports that the White House is currently negotiating with Congressional Democrats to extend unemployment insurance. It’s a big story in the Wall Street Journal. I want to suggest to you that more unemployment insurance right now is a very bad idea.

Here’s why: In supply-side terms, if the government subsidizes non-work, than we will get less work. In other words, higher unemployment.

This has been the European disease for decades. They heavily subsidized unemployment benefits. Guess what happened? Until recently, their unemployment rate was substantially higher than ours here in the U.S.

Already, the stimulus program for workers who lose their jobs up to this December 31st get 79-weeks of more unemployment benefits. That’s already in the stimulus legislation. In other words, they get another year-and-a-half on top of the benefit increase they already have from the normal social safety net. That is what’s so amazing.

Now I don't want to sound unnecessarily coldhearted. I like to think I’m compassionate. But supply-side economics is about incentives. And if we re-incentivize unemployment, it will surely diminish the will and the effort of our working people to find new work. That is an economic principle.

So the longer we extend unemployment benefits, and the larger we make them—including healthcare—the more unemployment we are going to get. There have been countless studies showing this. It is something we should consider.

I don't mean to sound heartless, or uncompassionate. But economic supply-side principles have a way of trumping the best of government intentions. And that is why a new stimulus package with more unemployment benefits will backfire and drive the jobless rate even higher.

On Tonight's Kudlow Report

This evening at 7pm ET:

A COMCAST/GE DEAL FOR NBC?
Can Comcast manage distribution & content?

CNBC’s David Faber reports.

The New York Times’s Andrew Ross Sorkin will also join us to lend his perspective.

OBAMA COMES BACK EMPTYHANDED FROM COPENHAGEN
Did Obama put America's credibility on the line?

NBC News’ Jay Gray reports from Chicago.

Debate:

*Steve Hayward, AEI Resident Scholar; "The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counter Revolution"
*Walter Russell Mead, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

TODAY'S BIGGER THAN EXPECTED JOBS LOSS
CNBC’s Bertha Coombs reports.

STOCK MARKET & ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Panel:

*William Dunkelberg, National Federation of Independent Business Chief Economist
*Joseph LaVorgna, Deutsche Bank Chief U.S. Economist
*Jim LaCamp, Senior VP, Portfolio Manager Macroportfolio Advisors
*Peter Morici, University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business Prof; U.S. Internat'l Trade Commission Fmr. Chief Economist

Please join us. The Kudlow Report. 7pm ET. CNBC.

A Backdoor Energy Tax from the EPA?

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) joined me on last night's show to discuss whether the Obama administration and the EPA is attempting to regulate us all back into recession.

On the Kudlow Report Tonight

This evening at 7pm ET:

THE STOCK MARKET
WHAT TRIGGERED TODAY'S SELLOFF?

*Barry Ritholtz, Fusion IQ; Director of Equity; Big Picture Blogger
*Zachary Karabell, CNBC Contributor; River Twice Research President
*Mark Perry, University of Michigan-Flint economics & finance professor; "Carpe Diem" Blogger

THE CLIMATE BILL:
ANTI-GROWTH & HIGHER TAXES?

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee will join us.

COMCAST & GE IN DEAL TALKS
CNBC's Scott Cohn reports.

*Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times Deal Book Editor; NYTimes Chief Mergers & Acquisitions Reporter
*Carl DiOrio, Hollywood Reporter

FED ON RATES/ BERNANKE HEARING

*Bill Ford, Fmr. Atlanta Fed President; Middle Tennessee State University
*Lee Hoskins, Pacific Research Institute Senior Fellow; Fmr. Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President

IRAN IN THE CROSSHAIRS

*Ken Timmerman, Middle East Data Project President; "Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran" Author
*Larry Korb, Assistant Secy. of Defense in the Reagan Admin.; Center for American Progress Sr. Fellow

Please join us. The Kudlow Report. 7pm ET. CNBC.

An Interview with the Next President of the United States?

Last night I had the pleasure of interviewing an old friend of the program, Texas Republican Senator and gubernatorial candidate Kay Bailey Hutchison. Among other things, we discussed why she's leaving Washington and heading back home to run against Gov. Rick Perry for the Governor's seat. I'll just say this: If she wins in Texas, she'll be president in 2012.