Minnesota canvassing board expected to say that Democrat Al Franken is winner in Senate race  —  MINNEAPOLIS - The state Canvassing Board was posed to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota's grueling Senate election in Al Franken's favor — but that doesn't mean the race is definitely over.

Is Obama relying too much on tax cuts?  —  I don't know yet.  But news reports this morning certainly raise questions.  —  Let's lay out the basics here.  Other things equal, public investment is a much better way to provide economic stimulus than tax cuts, for two reasons.

The Three-State Option  —  War in the Gaza Strip demonstrates yet again that the current governance paradigm for the Palestinian people has failed.  Terrorists financed and supplied by Iran control Gaza; the Palestinian Authority is broken, probably irretrievably; and economic development is stalled in Gaza and the West Bank.

TRANSITION TO JUSTICE.  —  The latest news from the Transition Office: We have sub-cabinet Justice Department nominees — bios after the jump: … Initial impressions: Kagan is the real story and has been on the short-list for this post since the very beginning of the transition process …

Kagan nominated for solicitor general  —  Elena Kagan, Harvard law school's dean, will be the new solicitor general, President-elect Barack Obama's transition office announced.  —  She will be Obama's voice at the US Supreme Court, and she has been considered a potential Democratic appointee to the Court itself.