Obama's new start  —  Riding the lamest of ducks, President Obama just won the Triple Crown.  He fulfilled (1) his most important economic priority, passage of Stimulus II, a.k.a. the tax cut deal (the perfect pre-re-election fiscal sugar high - the piper gets paid in 2013 and beyond); (2) …

U.S. Approved Business With Blacklisted Nations  —  Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government has allowed American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism, an examination by The New York Times has found.

Biden sees ‘inevitability’ for gay marriage  —  Vice President Joseph Biden said in a television interview Friday that “there's an inevitability for a national consensus on gay marriage.”  —  The vice president, who backs civil unions but not same-sex marriage, weighed in on the issue …

The Humbug Express  —  Hey, has anyone noticed that “A Christmas Carol” is a dangerous leftist tract?  —  I mean, consider the scene, early in the book, where Ebenezer Scrooge rightly refuses to contribute to a poverty relief fund.  “I'm opposed to giving people money for doing nothing,” he declares.

‘We the people’ to open next Congress  —  House to read Constitution  —  The Constitution frequently gets lip service in Congress, but House Republicans next year will make sure it gets a lot more than that - the new rules the incoming majority party proposed this week call for a full reading …

Would global warming be so bad?  —  Guest blogger Stefan Karlsson presents his take on global warming, more often called ‘global climate change.’  —  What has always troubled me the most with the view that we needs to stop “climate change” in the form of “global warming” is the idea that it would be bad if the Earth became warmer.

Grande Conservative Blogress Diva 2011  —  After extensive consultations with our committee, we have determined that the following blogresses, divas all, are the nominees for the coveted honor of Grande Conservative Blogress Diva 2011, the tiara commonly known as the “Ethel” …

Bloomberg's aides provided political support for Ground Zero mosque, released emails show  —  Mayor Bloomberg's top deputies went to great lengths to help the developers of a planned mosque near Ground Zero - even drafting a letter to the community board for them.

We misunderestimated him: Bush's memoir sells 2m copies in a month - nearly as many as Bill Clinton's sold in six years  —  For someone who mangled words on a regular basis, it's an impressive feat.  —  Former U.S. President George W Bush's memoir has sold an astonishing two million copies since …

Kamala Harris: Democrats' Anti-Palin  —  It's easy to understand why Kamala Harris, California's next attorney general, is being called the future of the Democratic Party, a rising political star in the mold of one of her big supporters — President Barack Obama.

Proposed U.S. House Rules Welcome (Quiet) Mobile Devices to the Floor  —  So, it looks like, yep, iPads are indeed coming to the floor of the House of Representatives, at least as long as the rules changes proposed by the incoming Republican leadership are adopted as they stand.

Media Parrots Same Talking Points: ‘Most Productive Congress Since Great Society’  —  Is it a coincidence when reporters and anchors all use the exact same words when describing the 111th Congress in such flattering and historic language?  From network anchors in New York to local news across the country …

Woman arrested at ABIA after refusing enhanced pat down  —  Early Wednesday morning, a computer glitch shut down a security checkpoint for a couple of hours at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.  The line snaked out the door as many travelers waited for more than an hour and some missed their flights.

Republicans Labor to Avoid ‘Labor’  —  Congress is off for the Christmas holidays, but when lawmakers come back some will be laboring on a newly renamed committee.  —  It's the Education and the Workforce Committee, previously known in the just-concluded Congress as the Education and Labor Committee.

EPA vows to enforce curbs on emissions  —  The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries next year in an attempt to curb global warming.  —  The move, coming on the same day the Interior Department unveiled …