Palin: Obama birth certificate ‘a fair question’  —  Speaking to the conservative talker Rusty Humphries today, Sarah Palin left the door open to speculation about President Obama's birth certificate.  —  “Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?” she was asked (around 9 minutes into the video above).

U.S. Economy Lost Only 11,000 Jobs in November  —  The United States economy shed 11,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 10 percent, down from 10.2 percent in October, the Labor Department said Friday.  —  The government also revised the October number to show …

Reform or Else  —  Health care reform hangs in the balance.  Its fate rests with a handful of “centrist” senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible.  —  But if they're really concerned with fiscal responsibility …

POLITICO Q & A: Al Gore  —  Former Vice President Al Gore, who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, talked with POLITICO's John F. Harris and Mike Allen about climate issues and the upcoming United Nations conference in Copenhagen.  Here are edited excerpts.

Nelson amendment expected to fall short even with GOP support  —  An amendment restricting abortions does not appear to have enough support to be attached to the Senate healthcare bill.  —  Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) said he expected that all but a few Republicans would support …

Coburn, Vitter want to force Congress into public health plan  —  Two of the Senate's most ardent opponents of a public health program, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.), are preparing an amendment to force members of Congress into any plan that is passed.

C.I.A. Authorized to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan  —  WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago in Pakistan, Central Intelligence Agency sharpshooters killed eight people suspected of being militants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and wounded two others in a compound that was said to be used for terrorist training.

SENATE RACE: Reid in a battle, poll reveals  —  Nine Republicans running for seat  —  Nevadans aren't warming up to Sen. Harry Reid, despite plenty of early advertising designed to boost his image, a new poll shows.  —  Just 38 percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion …

The Analytic Mode  —  Many Democrats are nostalgic for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign — for the passion, the clarity, the bliss-to-be-alive fervor.  They argue that these things are missing in a cautious and emotionless White House.  —  But, of course, the Obama campaign …

NATO Pledges 7,000 More Troops for Afghanistan  —  BRUSSELS — Responding to American entreaties for more soldiers in Afghanistan, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, announced Friday that the alliance had agreed to contribute a further 7,000 “new forces” to the coalition …

Obama's hollow speech on Afghanistan  —  We shall fight in the air, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields, we shall fight in the hills — for 18 months.  Then we start packing for home.  —  We shall never surrender — unless the war gets too expensive …

Bernanke's Plan for Unemployment: Do Nothing  —  I've been holding out some kind of vague hope that Ben Bernanke's confirmation hearings might provide a way out of our political impasse on the jobs front.  After all, Bernanke's job is to try to achieve as close to full employment …

Homeland Security panel faces ethics scrutiny after credit card hearing  —  At a hearing in late March, the nation's credit card companies faced the threat of expensive new rules from an unlikely regulator: the House Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

Obamas will spend holidays in Hawaii  —  Hawaii's home-grown president, Barack Obama, is expected back in Honolulu on Dec. 23, according to sources in Washington.  —  The president and his family are expected to stay until Jan. 2, meaning he will celebrate both Christmas and New Year's in the islands.

U.S., Russia to extend START treaty  —  The White House said Friday that even though it is unlikely that the U.S. and Russia will be able to agree to a new nuclear nonproliferation treaty before the current one expires Saturday, the two countries have agreed to extend the old one.

The battle for Teddy's seat  —  NEWTON, Mass. — For years, the anticipation loomed.  —  Just wait, Massachusetts politicos whispered, until one of the state's two coveted Senate seats comes open.  With all the ambitious, hard-charging Democrats in the House delegation and another generation …

My theory of the public option fight, and of health care  —  Digby has a great post on the politics of the public option: … I'm a policy guy, arguably to the point of myopia.  The public option compromises that are on the table at this point aren't really compromises worth having.

Pawlenty Hires Finance Director  —  MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has hired a new top aide to help him raise big money, a source tells Hotline OnCall.  —  Pawlenty, who has begun exploring a Pres. bid for '12, has hired Brian Haley as his PAC's finance director.