Clinton insiders question top aide's approach  —  Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks at a "town hall meeting" in San Francisco December 11.  (McClatchy-Tribune / December 11, 2007)  —  DES MOINES - On the eve of the final Iowa debate before the Jan. 3 caucuses …

Democrats Bow to Bush's Demands in House Spending Bill  —  House Democratic leaders yesterday agreed to meet President Bush's bottom-line spending limit on a sprawling, half-trillion-dollar domestic spending bill, dropping their demands for as much as $22 billion in additional spending …

Subpoenas for Al Sharpton's aides  —  Teams of federal agents swooped down on up to 10 close associates of the Rev. Al Sharpton Wednesday, demanding the flamboyant clergyman's financial records since 2001.  —  Sharpton's former chief of staff said he was roused at his Harlem home about 6:30 …

Mystery: Who's Behind Brutal Web Video Slamming Huckabee Over Paroled Rapist?  —  Okay, this is interesting.  Take a look at this new and absolutely brutal Web video that slams Mike Huckabee over his role (first reported by The Huffington Post) in pushing for serial rapist Wayne Dumond:

A dream comes true: USASpending.gov goes live today  —  Nearly eight years ago, Bill Beach, director of The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis, and I invited Gary Bass of OMB Watch over for a chat about the possibility of our two organizations collaborating in an effort to put all federal spending on the Internet.

Romney's (almost) Dean Scream speech  —  From NBC/NJ's Erin McPike  —  If anything is certain about the GOP presidential primary, it's that Romney really, really wants to win Iowa.  Desperately.  —  After hitting a post-debate party around Des Moines on Wednesday, he flew to Cedar Rapids …

C.I.A. Agents Sense Shifting Support for Methods  —  WASHINGTON — For six years, Central Intelligence Agency officers have worried that someday the tide of post-Sept. 11 opinion would turn, and their harsh treatment of prisoners from Al Qaeda would be subjected to hostile scrutiny and possible criminal prosecution.

Misreading the Iran Report  —  The extraordinary spectacle of the president's national security adviser obliged to defend the president's Iran policy against a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) raises two core issues: How are we now to judge the nuclear threat posed by Iran?

Rudy: All Business  —  Not long after he stepped down as mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani received an intriguing offer.  A group of officials from a Florida company called Seisint Inc. asked him to promote a powerful new database technology capable of tracking potential terrorists and other criminals.

Fred Wins, Iowa Loses  —  Why Carolyn Washburn should keep her day job.  —  HERE WE WERE on Wednesday, a nation of political junkies gathered around our televisions to watch the candidates debate each other one last time, and we had as a moderator one Carolyn Washburn, the editor of the Des Moines Register.

The Immigration Swamp  —  THE IDEA that 12 million illegal residents of the United States can be induced to quit the country en masse within four months is absurd on its face — a non-starter in logistical, humanitarian, political, diplomatic, commercial and economic terms that would leave an indelible stain on this country for years.

Secular Europe's Merits  —  The cathedral here, on which work began in the 12th century, was once the largest in Scotland, until a mob of reformers bent on eradicating lavish manifestations of "Popery" ransacked the place in 1559, leaving gulls to swoop through the surviving facade.