“It was joy,” he told CNBC’s Squawk Box as he remembered his outrage in September 2001 when America’s Most Wanted ordered simultaneous attacks against key American installations that resulted to almost 3,000 deaths, the worst-ever domestic attack in US history.

He still warns, though, that despite the Al-Qaeda leader’s death, terrorism will never go away anytime soon. But he said he always had faith in the ability of the country to accomplish anything it sets its mind into.

Going to the US economy, he says growth has been steady these past months and believes residential construction will make a comeback, which will be a reflection of the improved broader economy.

He also suggested that in the midst of rising oil prices, the best way to possibly deal with it is less consumption. He also reiterated his pessimism with the long-term position of the US dollar and hinted he’s not betting on it against foreign currencies.

Regarding the David Sokol scandal, Buffett believes Sokol’s trading practices was “wrong” and explained that the reason why he didn’t show any “outrage” at that time was because he thought his displeasure was already evident when he didn’t retain Sokol’s services with Berkshire.

He admits that his original news release on the Sokol scandal came off badly because at that time he thought it was already “ruthless” even though most people thought it wasn’t.

The wildly ballooning deficit is one intensely debated issue right now in Congress. A few disgruntled Republicans are not all too optimistic about any possible compromise between the president and the Republican-majority House with regard to implementing spending cuts.

Kentucky Republican senator Mitch McConnell went on air in NBC’s “Face the Nation” during the weekend to express his displeasure with the president’s phase on dealing with the problem despite having numerous discussions with him about the issue along with Vice President Joe Biden.

Congress is hard pressed to pass a budget by March 8 to avoid the possibility of a government shutdown. House Republicans have given the Democrat-led Senate more time to look through their proposed $61 billion spending cuts.

It is said that the White House has promised to meet the House Republicans halfway but so far they have been very disappointed with the president’s counter offer of $10.5 billion budget slash. The current budget for the next fiscal year stands at $3.7 trillion, which is already in the red by $1.65 trillion. 

Republicans have accused Democrats for messing up the stimulus package, which according to them has yet to produce any significant impact to the economy and drive to reduce unemployment. Democrats on the other hand have been arguing that the GOP spending cuts will kill recovery that will put even more people out of work.

The regime has been the dominant figure in Egyptian politics for 30 years and for most of it, the Egyptian people were largely simply supportive of it and passive about their rights. But for the last four days, the people have shown tremendous fury on the streets indication that they have lost their sense of fear to the regime.

Mubarak has himself declared that he is not going anywhere but as his government continues to show helplessness in the face of riots in Cairo, Suez City, and Alexandria in front of a worldwide audience, he simply does not have the political base to stay in power for long.

The United States, on the other hand, could find itself in the wrong side of history as the Obama administration continues to maintain support for the current regime. Understandably, Washington is careful not to pull the plug on Mubarak since there are Islamic fundamentalists determined to take control of the government once the regime steps down.

Obama might not be too thrilled of Mubarak keeping his post but the alternative might lead to another Iran, which the president is not willing to contemplate. He might be open to the idea though of a transition process that could lead to some kind of a compromise with the protesters. However, the lack of a leader on the side of the protesters could pose a significant hurdle to any compromise that can be made.

The Obama administration simply knows it cannot ignore the anger of the Egyptian people, who mostly live on less than $2 a day. It is playing a delicate balancing act since the current regime has been friendly to US interests in the Arab world and it is a major stability force in the region because of its cordial relations with Israel.

Just weeks ago, the North Korean army shelled the South Korean island after military exercises of this kind were held, resulting to four casualties. The South Korean government responded with an angry tone threatening to use military force if attacked again. Pyongyang considers the Yeonpyeong waters as part of its territory.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council has earlier called for an emergency meeting to discuss possible actions regarding the military drill by the South but failed to reach a consensus. China and Russia has asked Seoul to stop the drill to avoid igniting a deadly confrontation with its neighbor.

This has caused a divide among the council’s permanent members with the US supporting the exercise while China and Russia voicing against it.

The US has recently sent New Mexico governor Bill Richardson to North Korea as the White House’s unofficial envoy in an effort to deflate the tension ahead of the scheduled exercise. He admitted of talking out the North Koreans from taking any aggressive response.

Meanwhile, during the Security Council meeting, China has expressed willingness to bring together the two Koreas in the negotiating table. China remains a crucial economic and political ally of Pyongyang as the regime is heavily dependent from Beijing for its fuel and food needs.

As this is happening in Washington, a recent study has been released by the Rockefeller Foundation revealing the widespread effect of the crisis, which began 2 years ago, to Americans. It states that over 9 out of 10 US households were hit substantially during the period of March 2008 to September 2009.

Many Americans felt the deterioration of their wealth and income during the period which even saw the value of their investments and home fell like a rock.

Many believe that continues to be the case in 2010. Even Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke himself admitted in his own words that recovery in the US economy is “disappointingly slow” despite all the monetary intervention tools they have utilized such a near-zero interest rates and the billions of dollars the central bank have pumped into the economy.

President Obama’s remarks that the compromise package is a “substantial victory for middle-class families” is in defense of a plan that could face a stiff challenge with Democrats in the lower chamber where they believe can cause significant losses in potential revenues for the government thus limiting their ability to implement economy-spurring plans that address the needs of middle-class America.

Once the bill passes the Senate in the final vote, House Democrats are expected to push for a revision of the estate tax which under the Obama-GOP plan, the first $10 million that couples pass on to their heirs will be exempted from taxation. The balance will be subject to a 35 percent tax rate.

Democrats want a return to the 2009 estate tax levels where the exemption is $3.5 million and the balance was taxed 45 percent. Republicans, meanwhile, threatened that any partisan change to the bill would mean the death of the deal and Americans will be forced to brace for tax increase across all brackets beginning January 1.

The Democratic caucus voted to sharply oppose President Barack Obama’s compromise tax deal with members of the GOP in Congress, which guarantees a two-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for all income brackets.

Obama’s partymates was angered with how the president easily conceded to the Republicans in Congress including extending tax cuts to the so-called wealthy and a lower-than-expected estate tax rate after a $5 million threshold per individual.

Vice President Joe Biden, who negotiated the deal with the GOP, defended the plan and told fellow Democrats that they must either approve of it or not.

Those in favor of it believe this will keep the momentum in the economic recovery considering US unemployment remains a shade under 10 percent. The economic package also guarantees a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits, a 2 percent slash in payroll taxes, and tax breaks for small businesses.

The business sector is generally supportive of the package to be passed as they seek more certainty in the economic outlook for the near term. Some businessmen have suggested that the proposed tax cut extension would allow their companies to purchase equipment and hire more people, both vital to the economic recovery in general.

Aware of the opposition from within its own stable, the White House, in a statement, believed that discussions between both sides will still continue in the next few days and some of the major elements of the economic package will eventually be approved.

In the recently released November jobless report, more than one in every ten Americans are out of work for 12 months or more. Another report by Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative last April revealed older people had the most difficult time landing a job.

Older workers, who have been working for 20 years or so, find out that their work experience is actually working against them as employers are increasingly looking to hire younger and “cheaper” workers.

Unemployment in the United States spans a broad range of industries including manufacturing and retail. The November jobs numbers showed a weaker-than-expected 9.8 percent unemployment rate, casting a cloud on the Obama administration’s economic strategy.  

A New York Times study shows unemployment rate for aged 55 and above is now twice as it was before the crisis began in late 2008. The same study also reveals poverty is now steadily on the rise in this age group.

Analysts agree that older workers do not only have to hurdle competition against younger workers, but may also find it challenging to get around new technology, which changes rapidly. Many older workers are also questioned by employers on why they were out of work for a long time, diminishing their value on the market.

The president offered a gesture of interest in “working together” with Republican lawmakers to pass the highly debated Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year and other economic measures aimed at stimulating the US economy.  

They agreed on certain points including extension of tax rates for all brackets for 2 years, continued government assistance for unemployment insurance claims for the next 12 months, and payroll tax reduction for 1 year that would essentially trim social security contributions paid by workers, are just among the agreed points of the compromise deal which both sides believe will greatly benefit the middle class and boost demand in the economy.

A lot of Democrats are not too happy with the compromise saying the president gave away too much and will not be able to obtain some of the promises he made during the campaign. The president, already expecting opposition to the deal, strongly suggested that he would not let the battle of political ideologies between Democrats and the GOP to claim ordinary Americans as collateral damage.

It is the first time for the Tigers and the Ducks, ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the final rankings of the BCS for 2010, to appear in the national title game since the modern ranking system began in 1998. Auburn last won the national title in 1957 while Oregon has yet to win one.

Curiously, last year’s protagonists for the title—Alabama and Texas—did not even figure in this year’s Top 10 rankings. Two-time BCS national champion Florida likewise did not enter the Top 10 whereas Southern California, another two-time winner, was ranked 10th overall.

Amazingly, both Auburn (13-0) and Oregon (12-0) did not even break into the Top 10 of the AP poll at the start of the season, the first of its kind in the history of the BCS title game. The two football programs are scheduled to face off on January 10 next year at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Here is a list of the teams selected by the BCS to play in this season’s bowl games:

Rose Bowl: TCU vs. Wisconsin

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Connecticut

Discover Orange Bowl: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech

All State Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

Tostitos BCS National Championship Game: Auburn vs. Oregon

The latest report from the Labor Department showed a 9.8 percent rise in unemployment for the month of November, the highest since April this year. The worse-than-expected job numbers had many analysts scratching their heads because of improving retail and manufacturing numbers in the past months.

Politicians particularly the Republicans in Congress were quick to build their case against any move to increase taxes.

However, some argue that neither tax cuts nor tax credits can fix the problem since businesses are not able to grow anyway with the current economic situation where demand is anemic.

Economists generally projected a 150,000 rise in payrolls but the Labor Department announced only a 39,000 increase from the same period last year. Declining manufacturing jobs hurt the Obama administration’s efforts to bring Americans back to work.

Underemployed workers—people who work part time but hope to find full-time jobs—continue to remain high at 17 percent. The number of people unemployed for 6 months or more is at its highest in 3 months.

This is particularly surprising since November is usually the month where retailers begin to hire more workers because of the start of the shopping season.