Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill  —  Senate Democrats have filed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through fiscal year 2011, according to Senate GOP sources.  —  The 1,924-page bill includes funding to implement the sweeping healthcare reform bill …

Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange  —  Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.

Liberals giving up tax fight  —  A House liberal who has led the effort to stop President Obama's tax compromise with the GOP says efforts to change the package are futile.  —  Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who just a week ago circulated a letter signed by 54 Democrats urging opposition to the deal, now says the “die is cast.”

Amateur Hour: VA Judge Makes Elementary Error In Health Care Ruling  —  The Virginia federal district court judge who ruled yesterday that the individual mandate in the health care bill is unconstitutional is catching a lot of flack — and not just for having a financial interest in an anti-health care reform consulting firm.

Marine Commandant Suggests Presence Of Gays Would Endanger The Lives Of Straight Marines  —  Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos — who has opposed repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell — suggested that if Congress lifts the ban against open service and allows gays …

ROGER SIMON GIVES A STRAW MAN QUITE A LASHING.... The headline on Roger Simon's latest Politico column — “Class warfare is not the ticket” — was the first hint of trouble.  As is probably clear to everyone, when the media establishment refers to “class warfare,” they're invariably complaining …

The Inequality That Matters  —  Does growing wealth and income inequality in the United States presage the downfall of the American republic?  Will we evolve into a new Gilded Age plutocracy, irrevocably split between the competing interests of rich and poor?

Amazing: WaPo Fails to Publish Own Poll on ObamaCare's Lowest Popularity Ever  —  A new ABC-Washington Post poll found ObamaCare sunk to its lowest popularity yet: 52 percent opposed, and only 43 percent in favor.  ABC mentioned the poll without fanfare at the end of a Jake Tapper report …

Actress Thora Birch Fired From ‘Dracula’  —  The producers of the Off Broadway revival of “Dracula” fired their star actress Thora Birch on Friday, four days before the play's first performance, the production's director and Ms. Birch said in interviews on Monday.

Why the tax deal might fail  —  I listed some of the conservative critics of the tax deal in Wonkbook today (Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party Patriots, Charles Krauthammer), but Playbook shows their ranks are growing: Mitt Romney has an op-ed in USA Today saying the tax deal gives “President Obama ... reason to celebrate.

Ben Franklin's Nation  —  After you read this column, go to YouTube and search “Hans Rosling and 200 countries.”  You'll see a Swedish professor describe the growth of global wealth and well-being over the past 200 years.  —  He presents an animated time-lapse chart.

Obama's Judges Blocked At Historic Rate  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … As the first congressional session of Obama's presidency draws to a close, what began as a slow process of confirmation has ballooned into a full-blown judicial crisis.  The Senate has overseen the slowest pace …

Air Force Blocks Sites With Leaked Cables  —  The U.S. Air Force is blocking its personnel from using work computers to view the websites of the New York Times and other major publications that have posted secret material obtained by WikiLeaks, people familiar with the matter say.

The Top 50 Gawker Media Passwords  —  Readers of Gizmodo, Lifehacker and other Gawker Media sites may be among the savviest on the Web, but the most common password for logging into those sites is embarrassingly easy to guess: “123456.”  So is the runner-up: “password.”

Health reform will survive its legal fight  —  In March, New Hampshire preschool teacher Gail O'Brien, who was unable to obtain health insurance through her employer, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma.  Her subsequent applications for health insurance were rejected because of her condition.

Memo to the media: They're called “obstructionists”  —  That sore-loser phrase doesn't seem to get much use these days.  Yet watching Senate Republicans in the minority essentially close down the chamber, not allowing any votes to proceed until their demands are met regarding tax cuts for the very wealthy …

Carter: Biggest failure was '80 loss  —  Former President Jimmy Carter says his biggest failure during his term in the White House was that he didn't get to spend another four years there.  —  “I guess my biggest failure was not getting reelected,” he said in an interview with Big Think, referring to the 1980 presidential election.

As Electoral Ground Shifts, Bloomberg Could Skip the Party  —  On Sunday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg flatly ruled out an independent run for president in 2012.  On Monday, he appeared at the national unveiling in New York of No Labels, a group that aspires to build a grass-roots movement …

Italy: Silvio Berlusconi vote win sparks Rome clashes  —  Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has narrowly won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament by 314 to 311, prompting street protests.  —  In Rome, violent clashes have left 50 police officers and at least 40 protesters injured.

Census: Segregation hits 100-year lows in most American metro areas  —  New Census figures released Tuesday shows that 75 percent of US metro areas - most of them in the South and West - saw racial segregation drop to levels not seen for more than a century.  —  Atlanta

Assange's Extremist Employees  —  Why is WikiLeaks employing a well-known Holocaust denier and his disgraced son?  —  Last week, I wrote that the widely-linked article positing that the CIA was behind a Swedish woman's accusation of rape against Julian Assange was authored by a Russian-born …

Scarborough blasts MSNBC's bias: They always will say ‘a George W. Bush-appointee,’ ‘a Reagan appointee’  —  “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough doesn't let much slip by him - well not today, at least.  —  On his December 14 program, Scarborough pointed out the bias at his network, MSNBC, and even offered a particular example.