Harkin warns: No repealing or defunding healthcare reform on my committees  —  A well-placed Senate Democrat warned Thursday that efforts to scale back the new healthcare reform law will hit a brick wall in the upper chamber.  —  Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) — chairman of both the Senate Health Committee …

Michele Bachmann bid adds drama to the GOP leadership race  —  House Republicans look like they've largely been spared any uncomfortable leadership races as they cruise into their robust new majority, except for one little speed bump: Michele Bachmann.  —  The often fiery and always …

CNN Poll: Obama vs. Palin in 2012?  —  Washington (CNN) - His party got its clock cleaned in Tuesday's midterm elections, but according to a new national poll President Obama remains competitive in hypothetical 2012 presidential election matchups, especially against Sarah Palin.

Governor Christie to cut 1,200 public sector jobs, saving NJ millions  —  When Governor Christie set his sights on reducing the size of government and the debt in the Garden State, he is keeping that promise.  —  The governor announced that beginning January, he'll cut 1,200 state jobs saving New Jersey taxpayers $8.8 million.

Defining “compromise”  —  Can we please bag this idea that it's somehow a “compromise” in any meaningful sense if we temporarily extend all the Bush tax cuts, including the ones for the rich?  Come on.  It's really capitulation.  Temporary capitulation, perhaps, but capitulation all the same.

Devastation: GOP Picks Up 680 State Leg.  Seats  —  While the Republican gains in the House and Senate are grabbing the most headlines, the most significant results on Tuesday came in state legislatures where Republicans wiped the floor with Democrats.  —  Republicans picked up 680 seats …

You think '10 was tough?  Check out '12  —  For the first time in two cycles, Democrats will have more seats up for grabs than the Republicans, and the party could see its shrunken majority erased altogether.  —  Several of the senators up for reelection came in on the 2006 Democratic wave …

34 warships sent from US for Obama visit  —  New Delhi: The White House will, of course, stay in Washington but the heart of the famous building will move to India when President Barack Obama lands in Mumbai on Saturday.  —  Communications set-up, nuclear button, a fleet of limousines …

The Midterms: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward  —  Now that the dust has settled on the 2010 midterm elections, it's slowly becoming clear just how monumental the results really are.  We saw an extreme left-wing agenda suffer a crushing defeat.  At the ballot box, voters took Obamacare …

It's the Ideology, Stupid  —  No doubt we'll be talking about the 2010 election for a long time, and dueling explanations for the Democrats' defeat will abound.  Although I plan to make my own contribution to this explanatory surfeit, my topic right now is more modest—to trace the contours of what actually happened on November 2.

In new memoir, Bush makes clear he approved use of waterboarding  —  Human rights experts have long pressed the administration of former president George W. Bush for details of who bore ultimate responsibility for approving the simulated drownings of CIA detainees, a practice …

Pulling a Clinton?  —  John Harris, the noted Clinton biographer, considers the notion of a 1994 repeat:  —  [T[he widespread speculation that what Obama needs to do now is simply “pull a Clinton”—replicating Bill Clinton's comeback after being trounced by Newt Gingrich in 1994 …

A Rare Progressive Success  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  Tuesday was a disaster for Democrats, of course, but it was perhaps the best day ever for a cause that many progressives hold dear: redistricting reform.  In California, Proposition 20 passed with over 60 percent of the vote …

Geithner Visited Jon Stewart in April, Though Not for Laughs  —  In the midst of debates on financial regulation and China's currency in April, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner sat down to discuss the U.S. economy — with comedian Jon Stewart.  —  Geithner and Stewart, host of Comedy Central's …

America to Democrats: Stop what you're doing  —  Editor's note: Sen. John Thune, a Republican, represents South Dakota and serves as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.  —  (CNN) — Two years ago, shortly after Barack Obama won his historic election and Democrats were in control …

Bill Moyers: “Welcome to the Plutocracy!”  —  Bill Moyers speech at Boston University on October 29, 2010, as a part of the Howard Zinn Lecture Series.  —  I was honored when you asked me to join in celebrating Howard Zinn's life and legacy.  I was also surprised.  I am a journalist, not a historian.

What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability  —  Two years have passed since the worst financial crisis since the 1930s dealt a body blow to the world economy.  Working with policymakers at home and abroad, the Federal Reserve responded with strong …

Write-ins to be counted sooner than expected  —  LAWYERS LINE UP: Murkowski, Miller camps gird for tally tussle.  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Wednesday she's confident that she's won Alaska's contentious Senate race but is starting a legal fund and bringing up election lawyers to fight an expected battle over the results.

Tired of Repetitive Arguing About Climate Change, Scientist Makes a Bot to Argue For Him  —  Getting into a climate change debate on Twitter could be even more exhausting than it sounds now that a software developer named Nigel Leck has automated the process.