Matthews advised to quit MSNBC  —  Chris Matthews is dead serious about running for the Senate in Pennsylvania - and shopping for a house in the state and privately discussing quitting MSNBC as proof of his intense interest, according to NBC colleagues, political operatives and friends.

Suit contesting Barack Obama's citizenship heads to U.S. Supreme Court Friday  —  Justices will decide whether to consider the case  —  The U.S. Supreme Court will consider Friday whether to take up a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship …

Not Every Vote Counts  —  THE lizard people have eaten a vote in Beltrami County.  That's not so strange in a recount like the one underway in Minnesota — voters do all kinds of inexplicable things like inscribing “lizard people” in the write-in slot, as one did, invalidating his ballot.

Eric Holder's Politics  —  His years at Clinton Justice don't inspire confidence.  —  One of the media narratives about the Bush Administration has been its “politicization” of the Justice Department.  We've always thought most of that was woven out of whole cloth.

IDF preparing options for Iran strike  —  The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned.  —  While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel …

Say it Ain't So, Sarah, Another 30K?  —  The Republican National Committee is scheduled to file a campaign report with the Federal Election Commission Thursday disclosing that the committee spent additional funds to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Ros-Lehtinen hangs up on Obama.  Twice.  —  Is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a little paranoid?  —  Maybe.  —  On Wednesday, the Republican congresswoman got a call from President-elect Barack Obama, didn't believe it was him, and hung up on him.  Twice.  —  According to Ros-Lehtinen's flack Alex Cruz …

McCain Couldn't Compete With Obama's Money  —  America affirms Chicago's Golden Rule.  —  If money talks, we'll likely soon hear the real reason why Barack Obama beat John McCain.  Both men and the national parties will report to the Federal Election Commission today how much money they raised in October and November.

Treasury Weighs Action on Mortgage Rates  —  Intervention Would Aim to Buoy the Housing Market by Forcing Down the Cost of Loans  —  The Treasury Department is strongly considering a plan to intervene directly in the mortgage industry to dramatically force down rates and stimulate …

U.A.W. Makes Concessions to Help Automakers  —  WASHINGTON — The United Automobile Workers union said Wednesday that it would make major concessions in its contracts with the three Detroit auto companies to help them lobby Congress for $34 billion in federal aid.

Medicine for the Job Market  —  A CENTRAL feature of Barack Obama's presidential campaign was an aggressive plan to expand health insurance coverage by subsidizing low-income Americans and preventing discrimination against the ill. In recent weeks, Senators Max Baucus and Ted Kennedy …

Poll: Calif. gay marriage ban driven by religion  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.

On Health Care, Obama Policymakers Tap Campaign's Network of Supporters  —  Network of Supporters Tapped on Health-Care Issues  —  Barack Obama's incoming administration has begun to draw on the high-tech organizational tools that helped get him elected to lay the groundwork for an attempt to restructure the U.S. health-care system.

U.S. combat deaths hit low  —  U.S. combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan last month dropped to the lowest combined level since the United States began fighting the two wars more than five years ago.  —  Eleven American servicemembers died in combat in the conflicts in November.

Why do Feinstein and Wyden sound much different on the torture issue now?  —  Time constraints prevented me yesterday from writing about Dianne Feinstein's comments concerning torture in yesterday's New York Times, in which the California Senator — who will replace Jay Rockefeller as Chairperson …

Response by The New York Times  —  Response to 1 Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, an assortment of large United States-based corporations began opening small offices offshore in an effort to reduce their federal tax burden by declaring themselves foreign companies.

Obama campaign manager to write book  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, is writing a book about the historic election victory and has retained Washington attorney Robert Barnett, Obama's literary representative, to shop the proposal to publishers.

LEAKS PEEVE NBC  —  NBC is holding back from anointing David Gregory as the new host of “Meet the Press” because “they're furious about leaks” that tipped off the media, well-placed sources told Page Six.  The infamous in-house squabbling over Tim Russert's replacement “is at a new peak” …

Campaign Promises on Ending the War in Iraq Now Muted by Reality  —  WASHINGTON — On the campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama offered a pledge that electrified and motivated his liberal base, vowing to “end the war” in Iraq.  —  But as he moves closer to the White House …

As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions  —  STERKSEL, the Netherlands — The cows and pigs dotting these flat green plains in the southern Netherlands create a bucolic landscape.  But looked at through the lens of greenhouse gas accounting, they are living smokestacks, spewing methane emissions into the air.