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.

Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and Desist’  —  As President Obama prepares for the G20 summit in South Korea this week, Sarah Palin is challenging the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, which will likely be a key issue at the talks.  On Monday, in a keynote address at a trade-association convention in Phoenix …

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 …

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 —

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.

Tea Party Favorites Rand Paul & Jim DeMint Struggle To Name Specific Budget Cuts (VIDEO)  —  What's Your Reaction: … WASHINGTON — Signaling how difficult it will be for the Republican Party to live up to its campaign promises of cutting spending while preserving the Bush tax cuts …

I Am a Blogger No Longer  —  This is my final blog post for The Atlantic.  Five years ago, as a way to boost the competitive metabolism of The Hotline, Chuck Todd hired me away from ABC News to create “Hotline On Call.”  I was to be the first political reporter working for a mainstream news …

'Tis the season  —  Now is the moment for every national politician's most enthusiastic and obsequious supporters to tell him he's got a shot at the White House, which most politicians secretly believe to be true in any event.  —  Today's entrant: Sen. Scott Brown, whose hometown Boston Herald is cheering him on with glee.

In Which Bob Zoellick Makes His Play for the Stupidest Man Alive Crown  —  The last thing that the world economy needs right now is another source of deflation in a financial crisis.  And attaching the world economy's price level to an anchor that central banks cannot augment at need …