Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval  —  Each result is based on a three-day rolling average  —  Gallup tracks daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president.  —  Editorial note: Gallup did not conduct interviews Dec. 8 …

Reid Says Deal Resolves the Impasse on the Public Option  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said Tuesday night that he and a group of 10 Democratic senators had reached “a broad agreement” to resolve a dispute over a proposed government-run health insurance plan …

HOUSE GOP IS PRO-CHRISTMAS.... It was just six weeks ago that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) decided he was fed up with empty, meaningless congressional resolutions.  These largely symbolic measures are taken up all the time — it's been routine fare for years …

Obama FAIL  —  We just sent this email out: … Click here to sign the petition.

Norwegians incensed over Obama's snub  —  Barack Obama's trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel peace award is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over the cancellation of a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner.  —  Norwegians are incensed over what they view as his shabby response …

Sotomayor Draws Retort From a Fellow Justice  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court released its first four decisions in argued cases this term on Tuesday.  They were all minor, but one was notable for being Justice Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court debut and for prompting a testy concurrence from Justice Clarence Thomas.

Baird Retires; GOP Lands Solid Recruit  —  Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) announced his retirement tonight, becoming the third Dem in a vulnerable seat to announce his departure in the last few weeks.  “The time has now come to pursue other options, other ways of serving.

Al Gore talks about global warming, those e-mails, and his new book.  —  If Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth raised awareness about global warming by frightening people, he hopes his latest book, Our Choice, will help people find solutions to the problem.

NYT Gift Guide Includes A Separate Section For “People Of Color.”  White NYT Readers, You May Skip To The Next Page!  —  We don't like to throw around words like “racist” in the same sentence as the NYT's name, but there's no other word we can think of to describe this page …

My conversation with Michele Bachmann: 'I'm a lovable little fuzz ball!'  —  Michele Bachmann: “I don't fear the left, and maybe that's part of the loathing that they feel toward me.”  —  I had never met Michele Bachmann, and when I mentioned to liberal friends that I was going to interview her …

‘Wake up, gentlemen’, world's top bankers warned by former Fed chairman Volcker  —  One of the most senior figures in the financial world surprised a conference of high-level bankers yesterday when he criticised them for failing to grasp the magnitude of the financial crisis and belittled their suggested reforms.

Idiocy  —  I get spam: … Really?  All we have to do is send the DNC $5 and we get ponies?  The same DNC that is enabling corporatist Democrats to water down and destroy any hope for health care reform?  That DNC?  —  This is so freakin' obnoxious I can hardly stand it.

The Deficit Commission Bill Is Here, And It's Insane  —  In their press release, they state:  —  Importantly, the task force would ensure a bipartisan outcome.  Broad bipartisan agreement would be required to move anything forward.  Fourteen of the 18 Task Force members would have to agree to report the recommendations.

Glenn Beck's Schakowsky name-slam  —  It's one thing, perhaps, to challenge the White House — as FOX News Channel's Glenn Beck has been doing — for inviting an “ex-con” to a State Dinner: Robert Creamer, the former Illinois Public Action Fund director who did some prison time for check kiting and tax problems.

Panel votes 6-1 against Sanford impeachment  —  An impeachment resolution against Gov. Mark Sanford has been essentially killed, as a majority of the 7-member committee formed to weigh evidence against the governor voted against it today.  —  The vote, which came shortly after 3:30 p.m., was 6-1 against the resolution.

Solar geomagnetic activity is at an all time low - what does this mean for climate?  —  I've mentioned this solar data on WUWT several times, it bears repeating again.  Yesterday, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center released their latest data and graph of the interplanetary geomagnetic index …

Did Christianity Cause the Crash?  —  LIKE THE AMBITIONS of many immigrants who attend services there, Casa del Padre's success can be measured by upgrades in real estate.  The mostly Latino church, in Charlottesville, Virginia, has moved from the pastor's basement, where it was founded in 2001 …

Mark Penn's two firms awarded millions from stimulus for PR campaign  —  A contract worth nearly $6 million in stimulus funds was awarded by the Obama adminstration to two firms run by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's pollster in 2008.  —  Federal records show that a contract worth $5.97 million …

Hockey stick observed in NOAA ice core data  —  At the Foresight Institute, J. Storrs Hall had some interesting graphs made from NOAA ice core data (Alley, R.B. 2000. … It sure seems to mirror other hockey sticks this past century.  Dr. Mann will be thrilled to see this I'm sure.

Landrieu, Lincoln: No ‘compromise’ made on health bill  —  Two centrist Democrats at the center of the Senate's tense healthcare reform negotiations insisted that there has been no compromise deal on the legislation despite Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) pronouncements.  —  “There's no specific compromise.