Election 2010: Massachusetts Special Senate Election  —  2010 Massachusetts Senate: Coakley 50%, Brown 41%  —  State Attorney General Martha Coakley holds a nine-point lead over her Republican rival, state Senator Scott Brown, in Massachusetts' special U.S. Senate election to fill the seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy.

The Tea Party Teens  —  The United States opens this decade in a sour mood.  First, Americans are anxious about the future.  Sixty-one percent of Americans believe the country is in decline, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey.  Only 27 percent feel confident …

Democrats Considering Health Care-Immigration Deal To Overcome Key Sticking Point  —  Lawmakers who want to extend health coverage to illegal immigrants will not block the passage of the final health care reform bill so long as the White House offers a substantive promise to start pushing comprehensive immigration legislation this year.

Sources: Greer to quit, Thrasher to head GOP  —  Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer will resign his post Tuesday, according to two sources who have closely followed the party boss' stunning fall from grace.  The sources say Greer will step down and will be replaced by state Sen. John Thrasher …

How Visa, Using Card Fees, Dominates a Market  —  Every day, millions of Americans stand at store checkout counters and make a seemingly random decision: after swiping their debit card, they choose whether to punch in a code, or to sign their name.  —  It is a pointless distinction to most consumers …

Brit Hume's off message: Have faith, Tiger Woods, as long is it's Christianity  —  In “North by Northwest,” cold and heartless bureaucrats in Washington realize they may have inadvertently sent a frivolous but innocent advertising man to his death, and one of them says, “It's so horribly sad — why do I feel like laughing?”

Personal Bankruptcy Filings Rising Fast  —  The number of Americans filing for personal bankruptcy rose by nearly a third in 2009, a surge largely driven by foreclosures and job losses.  —  And more people are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which liquidates assets to pay off some debts and absolves the filers of others.

MI5 told US about Detroit bomber's terror links ‘a year ago’  —  Britain told American intelligence agents more than a year ago that the Detroit bomber had links to extremists, according to Downing Street.  —  The prime minister's spokesman indicated that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was named …

New scanners break child porn laws  —  The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned.  —  Privacy campaigners claim the images created by the machines …

Glenn Beck on birther issue: 'Dumbest thing I've ever heard'  —  Claims controversy is political ‘dream come true’ for Obama  —  On the air today, popular radio host Glenn Beck mocked “birthers” and claimed there is a concerted campaign to get those questioning Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility onto …

Secret Service confirms third crasher at White House state dinner  —  Another uninvited guest made it into the White House state dinner made famous by gate-crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the Secret Service announced Monday — exposing more holes in the security perimeter around President Obama.

Joan Rivers bumped off flight in Costa Rica when Continental gate agent finds passport suspicious  —  Above, Rivers celebrates the New Year with family and friends in Costa Rica last week.  On her return, though, she had a tough time leaving the country because of her ‘suspicious’ passport.

Republicans keeping pressure on Obama over detainee transfers  —  Republicans are trying to keep the heat on President Barack Obama over his policy of transferring detainees overseas in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt.  —  Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member …

First Transgender Appointee Fears Being Labeled ‘Token’  —  Amanda Simpson Says It Was Her Merits, Not Gender Identity, That Got Her Commerce Job  —  For Amanda Simpson, believed to be America's first openly transgender presidential appointee, the job she starts Tuesday in the U.S. Commerce Department …

CHERRY WILL DROP OUT OF GOV'S RACE  —  UPDATE: 6 News Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick reports that Lt. Governor John Cherry, once the presumed front-runner for the Democratic nomination, will drop out of the race for Governor.  —  Several sources have confirmed the story 6 News first broke Monday night at 11pm.

Apple to Ship Tablet Device in March  —  Looking to build on the momentum of its iPhone and iPod, Apple Inc. will unveil a new multimedia tablet device later this month, but isn't planning to ship the product until March, say people briefed by the company.  —  While the device's ship date …

What Liberal Revolt?  —  Claims That Obama's Base Have Turned On Him Are Based On Scant Evidence  —  Does President Obama have a problem with his political base?  That conclusion seems inescapable in recent weeks, as prominent liberal voices have expressed their unhappiness with the president …

A Crime Theory Demolished  —  If poverty is the root cause of lawlessness, why did crime rates fall when joblessness increased?  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The recession of 2008-09 has undercut one of the most destructive social theories that came out of the 1960s …

Hollywood's Liberal Heartbreak  — Home - Cheat sheet - Buzz board - Big Fat Story - Blogs & stories - Videos - Galleries - Crossword  —  Blogs and Stories  —  I hope and trust that Robbins has since calmed down.  —  When it came to politics, Robbins and Sarandon tended to espouse and admonish rather than try to persuade.

Matthews Bites The Politico That Feeds Him Cheney  —  It's delightful to see someone in the media go after Politico for their stenography.  J-Mart looked like the cat who ate the canary having to dodge the question about how Dick Cheney was using Politico as his conduit.  And there's simply no excuse for it.

C-SPAN asks Dems to televise health negotiations  —  C-SPAN is asking Democrats to open their healthcare negotiations to television cameras.  —  Democratic leaders have reportedly decided to skip a formal conference and instead talk behind closed doors to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills.

Heads ‘Not Likely’ To Roll As Intel Chiefs Report to President Today  —  President Obama will Meet National Security Advisers to Discuss Security Lapses in Christmas Day Terror Plot  —  As U.S. officials step up airline security and attempt to retrace the steps of the Christmas day terror suspect …

FIXING INTEL: A BLUEPRINT FOR MAKING INTELLIGENCE RELEVANT IN AFGHANISTAN  —  Author(s): Major General Michael T. Flynn, Captain Matt Pottinger, Paul D. Batchelor  —  This report critically examines the relevance of the U.S. intelligence community to the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Press Pool, C-SPAN Join Criticism of Conference Process on Health-Care  —  Yesterday, several outlets reported that the Democrats would “almost certainly” forgo the official conference process to get a health-care bill passed, opting instead to negotiate largely behind closed doors.

C.I.A. Is Sharing Data With Climate Scientists  —  The nation's top scientists and spies are collaborating on an effort to use the federal government's intelligence assets — including spy satellites and other classified sensors — to assess the hidden complexities of environmental change.

This Year's Housing Crisis  —  The financial crisis and Great Recession have their roots in the housing bust.  When it comes, a lasting recovery will be evident in a housing rebound.  Unfortunately, housing appears to be weakening anew.  —  Figures released last week show that after four months of gains …