Don't topple economy by rejecting tax deal, Obama tells the Dems  —  President Obama warned his fellow Democrats on Wednesday that they risk plunging the country into a double-dip recession if they reject his tax-cut deal with Republicans.  —  As the White House intensified pressure …

LEAKED EMAIL: Fox boss caught slanting news reporting  —  At the height of the health care reform debate last fall, Bill Sammon, Fox News' controversial Washington managing editor, sent a memo directing his network's journalists not to use the phrase “public option.”

December 2011  —  On the straight economics, the tax deal is worth doing.  But the history of the past two years drives home, if anyone doubted it, that economic policy must be considered from a political economy point of view; that you have to think ahead to how current policies affect …

Palin in Progress: What Does She Want?  —  For the longest time, Sarah Palin was leery of Facebook.  Some of the comments left on her page during the 2008 vice-presidential campaign were so withering and unpleasant that it took months of coaxing by her staff and her daughters Bristol and Willow …

Most Americans Say They're Worse Off Under Obama: Poll  —  More than 50 percent of Americans say they are worse off now than they were two years ago when President Barack Obama took office, and two-thirds believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.

Exclusive: Sarah Palin Under Cyber-Attack from Wikileaks Supporters in 'Operation Payback'*  —  The website and personal credit card information of former Gov. Sarah Palin were cyber-attacked today by Wikileaks supporters, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate tells ABC News in an email.

Elizabeth Edwards funeral to be protested by Westboro church  —  According to the Westboro Baptist Church's Web site, the Kansas church known for its anti-homosexual protests will protest Elizabeth Edwards's funeral in Raleigh, N.C., near the Edenton Street United Methodist Church on Saturday.

Sarah Palin's Reading List: Political Star Insists She's Well-Informed  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the only person to make the Most Fascinating list three consecutive years in a row.  Palin tells Walters that she is seriously considering a run for the White House and believes she can beat President Obama in 2012.

The Obama Stimulus Impact?  Zero  —  Liberals are still arguing that the federal spending stimulus wasn't large enough.  How many multiples of nothing—its result according to new evidence—would they like?  —  For the past two years, economists writing on these pages and elsewhere …

GOP gets queasy over earmark ban  —  After agreeing to kill earmarks, some of the most conservative GOP lawmakers are already starting to ask themselves: What have we done?  —  Indeed, many Republicans are now worried that the bridges in their districts won't be fixed …

The night Chris Matthews told the truth  —  I was watching Hardball tonight and came up with this when Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer said Republicans are for the “wealthy rich,” as opposed — I suppose — to the wealthy poor.  —  I hope you like it.  The transcript follows:

House passes DREAM Act, but bill faces tough Senate vote Thursday  —  House lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation allowing illegal immigrant students to remain permanently and legally in the United States.  —  The DREAM Act — a top priority of Democrats in both Congress and the White House …

Iran Placing Medium-Range Missiles in Venezuela; Can Reach the U.S.  —  Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources[1], according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010.  According to the article …

Huck's mansion  —  Former Gov. Mike Huckabee is building a $3 million house on Blue Mountain Beach just east of Destin, Fla. He bought the lot on the famous sugar sand beach last year for $800,000 and this year took out a building permit for a house expected to cost $2.2 million.

US Treasuries hit by biggest sell-off in two years  —  By Richard Milne in London and Michael Mackenzie in New York  —  US Treasuries suffered their biggest two-day sell-off since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, following a torrid month that has seen borrowing costs for western governments soar.

The end of the settlement freeze gimmick is not the end of the world, or the possibility of peace  —  For many months now I have been in predicting that the US would probably be able to secure a three or four-month settlement freeze extension, allowing for the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

No Deficit of Courage  —  IS it, in fact, 1994-95 all over again?  The atmospherics are certainly familiar.  We have a Democratic president who appears to be tacking to the center to work with Republicans after being battered in the midterms.  Jilted liberals, meanwhile …

Will Pigford vindicate Andrew Breitbart?  —  This summer Andrew Breitbart, publisher of a number of conservative news sites, found himself in the throws of a media scandal of dramatic proportions — and one which he later discovered went far deeper than a mere contextual snafu.

Bernie Sanders on Tax Deal: Those extreme right-wingers won't end there!  —  Appearing on the “Tavis Smiley Show” last night, socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders declared his opposition to the GOP and Obama administration tax deal and furiously declared that the republicans …