White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top adviser suggested to The Huffington Post late Wednesday that the administration is ready to accept an across-the-board continuation of steep Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest taxpayers.

Is the Deficit Commission Serious?  —  I've been trying to figure out whether I have anything to say about the “chairman's mark” of the deficit commission report that was released today.  In a sense, I don't.  This is not a piece of legislation, after all.  Or a proposed piece of legislation.

Kentucky Republican Senator-elect Rand Paul is already making waves in Washington, D.C. with plans to organize either a Senate or bicameral Tea Party Caucus.  —  Paul said he's been chatting with several people from Kentucky about laying down a communications blueprint to keep …

98 percent of write-in votes go to Murkowski  —  SPELL CHECK: Despite objections from Miller's team, most Murkowski votes are being accepted.  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  JUNEAU — Almost 98 percent of write-in ballots opened Wednesday went to Lisa Murkowski on the first day of a count meant to decide Alaska's U.S. Senate race.

Nostalgic for George W. Bush  —  I miss George W. Bush.  —  I don't miss him in the sense that I wish he were still president.  If he were, we might be at war with Iran and North Korea by now, and perhaps Portugal.  Neither do I miss the endless debates over waterboarding and the Iraq war …

Tea Party Leader to Romney: Massachusetts Health Law ‘Absolutely’ Unacceptable … Likely Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the former governor of liberal Massachusetts, is not a favorite of tea party activists for 2012.  Now a tea party leader has made explicit one reason why.

2012 Contenders to Bet Against  —  I'm not quite sure whom I'd call the odds-on favorite to capture the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.  But I have a pretty good idea of who I'd bet against.  —  The table below compiles a number of statistics related to prospective G.O.P. candidates in 2012.

Bam AWOL on Vets Day  —  Tweet  —  WASHINGTON — Today is Veter ans Day.  Do you know where your president is?  —  With his feeble flame of “hope” thoroughly doused here in the United States by last week's elections, President Obama has set out around the globe in search of throngs still enthralled by his flowery rhetoric.

Being a Tutsi  —  I just watched Glenn Beck's program “the Puppet Master” about the nefarious, money-changing, New World Order, self-hating Jew conspirator, George Soros.  I don't think I could do it again.  —  I listened to an hour or so of Limbaugh and had to turn it off, when I heard this line …

Sources: Pentagon group finds there is minimal risk to lifting gay ban during war  —  A Pentagon study group has concluded that the military can lift the ban on gays serving openly in uniform with only minimal and isolated incidents of risk to the current war efforts, according to two people familiar …

Possible Rival Says He Has No Confidence in RNC's Steele  —  Connecticut GOP Chairman Chris Healy is strongly considering a bid to replace Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, and on Wednesday he unleashed a scathing critique of Steele's leadership.

Polling Conservative Bloggers On The 2010 Election And The Aftermath  —  Right Wing News polled more than 250 right-of-center bloggers on election 2010 and the aftermath. 70 bloggers responded (This one time, the respondents ARE NOT going to be listed.  Expect them to be listed as per usual, on the next poll).

Nancy Pelosi faces new resistance from Democrats  —  Nancy Pelosi is struggling to stand her ground as the effects of last week's Democratic debacle shift the political earth beneath her feet.  —  Pelosi announced Friday that she's running for minority leader in the new Congress, and her election still seems on track.

Co-Chairmen of Obama's Fiscal Commission Unveil Real Tax Increases and Fake Spending Cuts  —  I have many pet peeves, but one that causes me endless frustration is the Washington “spending cut” scam.  This happens when politicians increase spending, but claim that they're cutting spending …

Christine O'Donnell considers reality show  —  The Tea Party favorite who may have cost Republicans a Senate seat won't rule out another run for office.  —  Christine O'Donnell won't rule out making another run for office.  The former Delaware Senate candidate told Jay Leno during an appearance on the …

The Establishment candidate  —  John Thune's presidential hopes got a gorgeous rollout in the Weekly Standard in September.  The piece begins, vividly, with Thune in a small plane, looking down at his South Dakota hometown, Murdo.  —  “If he wins the nomination, it will be because he is …