A New Leader for the Democrats  —  Nancy Pelosi has been an extremely effective speaker of the House for four years, shepherding hundreds of important bills toward passage and withstanding solid Republican opposition.  Her work in passing health care reform and strong ethics oversight achieved …

Keith Olbermann To RETURN Tuesday, Phil Griffin Announces  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … Keith Olbermann will return to the air on Tuesday after being suspended without pay for two shows (this past Friday and the upcoming episode on Monday).  —  The host of MSNBC's “Countdown” …

Drive to Repeal 'Don't Ask' Policy All but Lost for Now  —  The drive in Congress to repeal the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy appears all but lost for the foreseeable future, with action unlikely this year and even less likely once Republicans take charge of the House in January.

Doing It Again  —  Eight years ago Ben Bernanke, already a governor at the Federal Reserve although not yet chairman, spoke at a conference honoring Milton Friedman.  He closed his talk by addressing Friedman's famous claim that the Fed was responsible for the Great Depression …

California: The Lindsay Lohan of States  —  Sacramento is headed for trouble again, and it shouldn't expect a bailout.  —  Listen up, California.  The other 48 states—your cousin New York excluded—are sick of your bratty arrogance.  You're the Lindsay Lohan of states …

Crist willing to consider Jim Morrison pardon before leaving office  —  In his last two months in office, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is considering a December surprise: A posthumous pardon for Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, for indecent exposure charges after an infamous 1969 Miami concert.

One word: Preparation  —  How did Harry Reid withstand the Tea Party tidal wave and beat conservative Sharron Angle in the U.S. Senate race?  —  2 a.m.  —  Shortly before the June 8 primary, I was chatting with a Harry Reid operative about my plans for a break after covering the intense Republican scrum …

Climate scientists plan campaign against global warming skeptics  —  The American Geophysical Union plans to announce that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue.  Other scientists plan a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.

Barack Obama joined Muslim prayers at school, teacher says  —  AS a schoolboy in Jakarta, Barack Obama attended Muslim prayer sessions with his classmates against the wishes of his mother.  —  The US President's former grade three teacher said that Mr Obama - who was known as “Barry” …

Regulators flawed in foreclosure oversight  —  As foreclosures began to mount across the country three years ago, a group of state bank regulators suspected that some borrowers might be losing their homes unnecessarily.  So the state officials asked the biggest national banks for details about their foreclosure operations.

If you thought the bank bailout was bad, wait until the mortgage defaults hit home  —  THE BIG PICTURE: Ireland is effectively insolvent - the next crisis will be mass home mortgage default, writes MORGAN KELLY … WHEN I wrote in The Irish Times last May showing how the bank guarantee …

Odd Little Moment at the CEO Meeting  —  There was an odd little moment with Spice Jet founder Bhupendra Kansagra when President Obama spoke to CEOs Saturday in Mumbai.  —  MR. KANSAGRA: Thank you.  Welcome, Mr. President, to India.  As a fellow Kenyan, I'm very proud to see that you have made —

ELECTORAL DISSONANCE  —  Barack Obama had the mot juste last Wednesday for what had just befallen him and his party: a “shellacking.”  The President's choice of word was one syllable (and one “g") longer than his predecessor's summary after a parallel midterm debacle.

Tea party favorite Marco Rubio walks a fine line as senator  —  WASHINGTON — When a French TV station set out to understand the American phenomenon known as the tea party, it sent a reporter overseas to Florida, down a dusty country road, past a bug-swarmed pond, and into a Pasco County pasture filled with people waving American flags.

Obama hugs Romney on ‘60 Mins’ - Daschle: DGA strong in 2010 - Schumer waves off DSCC talk - Palin vs. Bernanke -Ensign primary looms  —  POLITICO SNEAK PEEK - VICTORY (OR SOMETHING LIKE IT) - The Democratic Governors Association will argue in a memo today that the committee exceeded expectations …