W pushes envelope on U.S. spying  —  New postal law lets Bush peek through your mail  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the Daily News has learned.  —  The President asserted his new authority …

House Democrats Prepare To Tighten Lobbyist Rules  —  In their first act as the House majority, Democrats today will introduce a package of rule changes to ban gifts and trips from lobbyists, restrict privately funded junkets and begin to sever the cozy relations between lobbyists and lawmakers that scandalized the last Congress.

The Right Minimum Wage  —  A federal minimum wage is an idea whose time came in 1938, when public confidence in markets was at a nadir and the federal government's confidence in itself was at an apogee.  This, in spite of the fact that with 19 percent unemployment and the economy contracting …

The Democrats' Cautious Tiptoe Around the President's Tax Cuts  —  President Bush is all but daring Democratic leaders to attack his signature tax cuts as they take over Congress.  But Democrats, perhaps to his frustration, are having none of it.  —  In an opening salvo on Wednesday …

In the House, Suddenly Righteous Republicans  —  Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 feet 3 inches tall in thick soles.  But he packed a whole lot of chutzpah when he walked into the House TV gallery yesterday to demand …

A Chance To Change The Game  —  This past Election Day, the American people sent a clear message to Washington: Clean up your act.  —  After a year in which too many scandals revealed the influence special interests wield over Washington, it's no surprise that so many incumbents were defeated …

Miers Resigns As White House Counsel  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Harriet Miers, President Bush's failed Supreme Court nominee, has submitted her resignation as White House counsel, the White House announced Thursday.  —  White House press secretary Tony Snow said the president reluctantly accepted …

To Win in Baghdad, Strike at Tehran  —  As early as next week, President Bush is expected to give a major speech announcing a new strategy in Iraq.  This is an excellent opportunity for the administration to announce a big strategic change that could dramatically improve America's prospects in Iraq.

RANGEL BOOTS VEEP  —  EVICTS CHENEY FROM CHOICE CAPITOL DIGS  —  Rep. Charles Rangel has evicted Vice President Dick Cheney from his office in the Capitol, and the Harlem heavyweight is moving into the prime digs today, The Post has learned.  —  Gilded letters were freshly painted atop …

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Reported Dead  —  A source close to Pajamas Media has learned that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has apparently succumbed to the cancer that hospitalized him last month, as exclusively reported by Pajamas Media, at age 67.

Majority of Americans View Media Coverage of Iraq as Inaccurate  —  Most likely to say coverage is too negative  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A majority of Americans — 56% — believe that the news media's coverage of the situation in Iraq is generally inaccurate.  About 4 out of 10 Americans agree …

A Tale of Two Conspiracies  —  The NYT has a story detailing the evidence that will be used to prove that Jose Padilla engaged in a conspiracy to commit terrorism.  From its description, the evidence against Padilla is very very thin.  The NYT sort of evades the real issue when discussing the substantive evidence against Padilla:

Duke Lacrosse Accuser Gives Birth to Baby Girl  —  CHAPEL HILL — WRAL has confirmed that the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case gave birth Wednesday to a baby girl at UNC Hospitals.  —  Sources tell WRAL the woman delivered the baby by a Cesarean section.  No other detail were available about the birth.

Passed Over by Pelosi, Harman Doesn't Get Even.  She Gets Mad.  —  Catfight aftermath: Rep. Jane Harman is still quite irked that House Speaker-designee Nancy Pelosi nixed her for chairman of the House intelligence committee — and she's not exactly being stoic about it.

Contractors Are Cited in Abuses at Guantanamo  —  New allegations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay released by the FBI on Tuesday put private contractors at the center of interrogation operations, raising questions once again about where they fit in the military's chain of command.

New Orleans Repeats Mistakes as It Rebuilds  —  Many Houses Built in Areas Katrina Flooded Are Not on Raised Foundations  —  NEW ORLEANS — By ones and twos, homeowners here are reinhabiting neighborhoods, even the most devastated ones, and many view their return as a triumph over adversity.

Best Friends Forever?  —  Just now on MSNBC, I saw Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) make his way over to introduce himself to Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA), whose back is to the camera.  And that's Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) looking on as the Muslim-fearing Goode shakes hands with the House's first elected Muslim.

Our Iraqi Mistake  —  WHAT WAS IT, EXACTLY?  —  Listen to the MP3 audio version of this story here, or sign up for Slate's free daily podcast on iTunes.  —  Virtually everyone now agrees that the war in Iraq has been a vast mistake.  But what, exactly, was the nature of that mistake?