Obama picks Gregg for Commerce  —  Sen. Judd Gregg will be nominated as the new Commerce secretary Tuesday morning, giving President Obama a fresh independent voice in his Cabinet but at a huge cost to Republicans and the larger Senate.  —  The run-up to the nomination has focused on backroom deals …

Senate confirms Holder as first black AG  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Eric Holder won Senate confirmation Monday as the nation's first African-American attorney general, after supporters from both parties touted his dream resume …

US-IRAQ: Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal Decision  —  CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21.

Sarah Palin endorses Texas Gov. Rick Perry for re-election  —  wslater@dallasnews.com  —  AUSTIN - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has endorsed Rick Perry for re-election, calling him the “true conservative” in a primary election showdown with fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison.

STRAIGHT OUTTA HOOVERVILLE  —  It gets better.  The latest from RNC Chair Michael Steele: “Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job.”  —  This is such transparent nonsense it's hard to know where to start; but I guess it builds on the DeMint nonsense.

The Travails of Tom Daschle  —  When President Obama nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, it seemed to be a good choice.  Mr. Daschle, as the co-author of a book on health care reform, knew a lot about one of the president's signature issues.

Joe the Plumber advises GOP-ers  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  Fresh off his stint as a war correspondent in Gaza, Joe the Plumber is now doing political strategy with Republicans.  —  When GOP congressional aides gather Tuesday morning for a meeting …

Cramer on Obama's Anti-Wall Street Comments: ‘We Heard Lenin’  —  ‘Mad Money’ host compares new president's attack on corporate profits to rhetoric from Russian communist.  —  Business & Media Institute  —  With all the populist sentiment generated from the economic slowdown by politicians …

Ex-Journalists' New Jobs Fuel Debate on Favoritism  —  WASHINGTON — Republicans have long accused mainstream journalists of being on the payroll of President Obama and the Democratic Party, a common refrain of favoritism especially from those on the losing end of an election (see Bush vs. Gore, Clinton vs. Bush and Bush vs. Dukakis).

A free speech killer  —  UN warns: Don't defame religions, especially Islam  —  On Inauguration Day, after it got the United Nations to pass a gag rule on insulting religions, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) told our new president in a New York Times ad that Muslims …

Behind the blow-out at Davos  —  From Michael Reynolds  —  Origins of a cooperation.  For the past two decades, cooperative relations between Turkey and Israel had been one of the constants of international relations in the Middle East.  While it would be incorrect to describe those ties …

Is Coleman Aiming for a Do-Over Election?  —  The Coleman team appears to be laying out a continued strategy of casting doubt on the legitimacy of the Minnesota election result by pointing to a fundamental underlying idea of this dispute: The margin of error is simply too big in a race this close.

HAMAS RALLIES AT MINNESOTA STATE CAPITOL  —  On January 5, representatives of Hamas and Fatah rallied on the steps of the Minnesota state capitol in St. Paul.  Their purpose was to condemn Israel, and an Israeli flag was burned.  Mostly, though, the rally turned into a confrontation between …

Obama seeks assessment on gays in military  —  No rush to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'  —  WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is telling the Pentagon and gay-rights advocates that it will have to study the implications for national security and enlist more support in Congress before trying …

Daschle — And Solis, Too  —  While everyone is looking at Tom Daschle's tax problems (I am too, working on a story for tomorrow morning), a new issue has arisen concerning another Obama cabinet nomination, that of Rep. Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor.  —  Solis had a rough hearing …

How the stimulus might help Illinois  —  Pay, jobless benefits, food stamp aid would grow slightly  —  WASHINGTON — If the Obama administration's economic stimulus package is passed and signed into law, the first way most working people in Illinois would feel it would be a small increase …

Peanut Product Recall Took Company Approval  —  WASHINGTON — Even though federal health officials have begun a criminal investigation into whether the Peanut Corporation of America deliberately sold contaminated products, the government still needed the company's permission last week before announcing a huge recall of its products.