I Hope This Isn't True  —  Ezra Klein says that the shape of a fiscal cliff deal is clear: only a 37 percent rate on top incomes, and a rise in the Medicare eligibility age.  —  I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that this is just a case of creeping Broderism, that it's a VSP fantasy …

Supreme Court to Take Up Gay Marriage  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would enter the national debate over same-sex marriage, agreeing to hear a pair of cases challenging state and federal laws that define marriage to include only unions of a man and a woman.

Administration Weighs Legal Action Against States That Legalized Marijuana Use  —  WASHINGTON — Senior White House and Justice Department officials are considering plans for legal action against Colorado and Washington that could undermine voter-approved initiatives to legalize the recreational use …

‘Gangnam Style’ Singer PSY's Vitriolic Anti-American Past Revealed, Outrage Ensues  —  He has the most-watched YouTube video of all-time, an international phenomenon of a mega-hit in “Gangnam Style,” has made appearances on nearly every American morning talk show under the sun from Today to Ellen …

The Republican Glasnost  —  Senator Marco Rubio won the Jack Kemp Foundation's Leadership Award earlier this week.  In his speech accepting the award, he sketched out his Republican vision.  Some of the policies he mentioned were pretty conventional for someone of his party: limiting regulations, approving the Keystone XL Pipeline.

GOP Resurrects Plan to Rig Electoral College  —  After Romney got walloped on November 6, Republicans want to change how electoral votes are awarded.  —  In September, top Pennsylvania Republicans shocked the nation by proposing a change to the state's election rules that would have rigged …

GOP, Koch Brothers Sneak Attack Guts Labor Rights in Michigan  —  In the state where workers sat down in Flint General Motors plants seventy-five years ago and emboldened the industrial labor movement that would give birth to the American middle class, Republican legislators on Thursday voted to gut basic labor rights.

Whites Stayed Home And Re-Elected Obama  —  Now that all the data is in, the fundamental reason for Romney's defeat is apparent, if largely unreported.  It is not just that blacks, Latinos, and single women showed up in record numbers at the polls.  It's that whites didn't.

2012 Election Ended With Deluge of Donations and Spending  —  The most expensive general election in history ended with a bang, according to new reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, with both presidential campaigns raising and spending huge amounts in the final two weeks before Election Day and …

Press fear Obama private swearing in  —  The White House Correspondents Association is strongly urging the Obama administration to allow press access to the president's official swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, following indications from inauguration committee officials that the event could potentially be closed to the press.

Maher: Send Koch bros a ‘f—k you’  —  Bill Maher blogged on Friday that President Barack Obama should use a fiscal cliff deal as a “personal f—k you” to the Koch brothers by doing something about global warming.  —  In a post Friday, Maher wrote: “Since we're looking for new revenue streams …

Cheney Takes Flamethrower To Obama  —  Former Vice President Dick Cheney was honored last night at the Hudson Institute's 2012 Herman Khan Award Dinner at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.  Cheney was introduced by Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who spoke in detail about Cheney's life and accomplishments …

‘Welfare Spending Equates to $168 Per Day for Every Household in Poverty’  —  The amount of money spent on welfare programs equals, when converted to cash payments, about “$168 per day for every household in poverty,” the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee finds.

New photo shows Obama taking Romney's concession call  —  (CNN) - A never-before-seen official White House photo, posted online Friday, shows President Barack Obama on Election Night speaking with his freshly defeated rival Mitt Romney.  —  The photo was taken in the presidential suite …

Legislators Hope To Slip Farm Subsidies And Food Stamps Into Fiscal Cliff Deal  —  Agriculture Committee chairs from both chambers work out their differences in private.  Easy spending cuts and deep ideological differences in Farm Bill talks.  —  Image by Iowa Farm Bureau, Gary Fandel / AP

Arpaio gets cold shoulder in San Francisco  —  immigration, san francisco news, lilian kim  —  SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — America's most controversial sheriff was in hostile territory Thursday night.  Arizona's Joe Arpaio is in San Francisco as an invited guest, despite strong public sentiment against him.