White House: Raising taxes would cut $200B from economy  —  The White House released a report Monday arguing that a failure to extend tax cuts for middle class families could have a negative impact on the economy which outweighs the gains from traditional Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday sales.

Guest on Fox News to Discuss Benghazi Attack Is Given a Quick Exit  —  Thomas E. Ricks, the veteran defense reporter and author, said he expected his Monday morning appearance on Fox News to last about three minutes.  It ended, in fact, after 90 seconds — his last sentence was a description …

Santorum: 'I'm Open' to 2016 Run  —  Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum says he is “open” to another run for president in 2016.  Santorum was asked about a possible presidential campaign Monday at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.  —  “I'm open to it, yeah,” Santorum replied.

Former Florida GOP leaders say voter suppression was reason they pushed new election law  —  Former GOP chair, governor - both on outs with party - say voter fraud wasn't a concern, but reducing Democratic votes was.  —  VOTE ()  —  A new Florida law that contributed to long voter lines …

Revenge of the Reality-Based Community  —  My life on the Republican right—and how I saw it all go wrong.  —  I know that it's unattractive and bad form to say “I told you so” when one's advice was ignored yet ultimately proved correct.  But in the wake of the Republican election debacle …

NYT Reporter Falls for Hamas Ploy  —  NYT's David Carr thinks terrorists are journalists because they spray-painted ‘TV’ on their car  —  The New York Times has again attempted to negate the presence of terrorists in the Gaza Strip.  Reporter David Carr claims that two senior Hamas terrorists killed …

CFTC Charges Ireland-based “Prediction Market” Proprietors Intrade and TEN with Violating the CFTC's Off-Exchange Options Trading Ban and Filing False Forms with the CFTC  —  CFTC also charges TEN with violating a 2005 CFTC cease and desist order  —  Washington, DC - The U.S. Commodity …

TIME HONORS SANDRA FLUKE AS ‘PERSON OF THE YEAR’ FINALIST  —  Just when you think Time magazine can't make any more of a mockery of itself, they nominate Sandra Fluke, contraception advocate extraordinaire, as a candidate in their Person of the Year 2012 poll:

The U.S. Supreme Court Allows New Challenge To Obamacare To Go Forward  —  Under the heading of “it's not over until it's over”, the United States Supreme Court has vacated a decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, ordering the appellate court to hear arguments on the constitutionality …

AP nixes ‘homophobia’, ‘ethnic cleansing’  —  The Associated Press has nixed “homophobia,” “ethnic cleansing,” and a number of other terms from its Style Book in recent months.  —  The online Style Book now says that “-phobia,” “an irrational, uncontrollable fear, often a form of mental illness” …

Marijuana's foot in the door  —  SMALL-TIME MARIJUANA use will soon be legal in Colorado and Washington state.  Sort of.  —  This month voters in those states approved ballot measures permitting possession of up to an ounce of pot.  But the federal government has not changed its policy, which labels the drug an illegal substance.

Donald Trump: Mean-Spirited GOP Won't Win Elections  —  More ways to share...  Mixx  —  Stumbled  —  LinkedIn  —  Vine  —  Buzzflash  —  Newstrust  —  Technocrati  —  Forward Article  —  Ronald Kessler reporting from Washington, D.C. — The Republican Party will continue …

How Not to Appeal to Asian Americans  —  House Committee on Education and the Workforce Dem / Flickr  —  Of the various post-election stories, the GOP's “Latino problem” is one of the most prominent.  At some point over the last three weeks, every prominent Republican leader has had something …

CNN Poll: Americans rate W.H. response to Benghazi attack and Petraeus resignation  —  Washington (CNN) - Americans are giving the White House low marks for how it's handled the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus, according to a new national survey.

Cox and Archer: Why $16 Trillion Only Hints at the True U.S. Debt  —  Hiding the government's liabilities from the public makes it seem that we can tax our way out of mounting deficits.  We can't.  —  A decade and a half ago, both of us served on President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission …

Exclusive: Jeb Bush Meets with Former Aides near White House  —  Washington, D.C. — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush met Monday with a group of his former staffers at the J. W. Marriott hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, just steps from the White House.  Bush, a potential 2016 presidential contender …