Breaking: Obama unveils 21st Century New Deal  —  President-elect Barack Obama added sweep and meat to his economic agenda on Saturday, pledging the largest new investment in roads and bridges since President Dwight D. Eisenhower built the Interstate system in the late 1950s …

The Real Bill Ayers  —  IN the recently concluded presidential race, I was unwillingly thrust upon the stage and asked to play a role in a profoundly dishonest drama.  I refused, and here's why.  —  Unable to challenge the content of Barack Obama's campaign, his opponents invented a narrative …

Biden to limit role of vice president  —  Dialing back his predecessor's expansive view of the office, Vice President-elect Joe Biden plans on “restoring the Office of the Vice President to its historical role” as adviser to the president and tie-breaker in the Senate, an aide to Biden said Saturday.

With only 46 days left, Americans start re-liking George W. Bush  —  It makes sense if you think about it.  But who's investing a lot of thought nowadays in President George W. Bush?  —  Not many.  But the folks over at the Gallup Poll have found historically that American voters tend …

Public support grows, according to the new NEWSWEEK Poll.  —  When voters in California, Florida and Arizona approved measures banning same-sex marriage last month, opponents lamented that the country appeared to be turning increasingly intolerant toward gay and lesbian rights.

DO AMERICANS RECEIVE BETTER HEALTH CARE?  —  Noah Pollack starts this post by saying “I am far from knowledgeable about health care,” and then gets right down to the busy of proving it, using the oft-discredited prostate cancer stats to argue that “survival rates for many diseases are higher …

Terrible employment numbers  —  A slump, a weak recovery, a worse slump  —  Most commentary on the terrible employment report has focused on the establishment numbers, because the number from the household survey that usually makes headlines, the unemployment rate, didn't rise all that much.

When a Job Disappears, So Does the Health Care  —  ASHLAND, Ohio — As jobless numbers reach levels not seen in 25 years, another crisis is unfolding for millions of people who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, joining the ranks of the uninsured.  —  The crisis is on display here.

Pakistan's Jihad  —  In the war on terror, Islamabad is both with us and against us.  —  Just two days after the gunmen's siege in Mumbai ended, Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari went on CNN's Larry King Live to plead his case.  Even before the Indian authorities had brought the rampage to an end …

10 questions for Obama on ‘Meet the Press’  —  We wouldn't presume to tell NBC's Tom Brokaw what he should ask of Barack Obama when the president-elect appears on Meet the Press for (almost) the full hour on Sunday.  —  But there are 10 questions that we'd like to pose to President-elect Obama …

Letter to Sean Hannity of Fox News  —  I sent the following letter to Sean Hannity recently in response to his misrepresentation of what I said on his show regarding the Mumbai terrorist attacks.  I have not received any response back from him.  Today I read it aloud on my Sirius-XM radio program …

Head of nuclear watchdog calls efforts against Iran ‘a failure’  —  Mohamed ElBaradei urges dialogue between the West and Tehran.  He says Obama has given him ‘lots of hope.’  —  Reporting from Vienna — The chief of the world's nuclear weapons watchdog organization considers five years …

The Senate, Snowe and Dinkytown  —  This week Senator Saxby Chambliss won a runoff vote in Georgia.  It's possible you missed this.  Perhaps you were busy — oh, I don't know, maybe contemplating the unemployment rate or learning to darn holes in old socks or embarking on a promising …

Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector to step down  —  Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt announced late Friday that he was resigning to pursue a private business venture.  —  The sudden announcement comes just a month after Bettencourt was reelected to his third term.