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.

Bristol Palin Survives ‘Dancing’ Elimination Round With Help of Tea Party  —  Bristol Palin survived another elimination round on ABC's “Dancing With the Stars” as fans including Tea Party supporters mustered enough votes to overcome low scores from the talent show's judges.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

It's “Otb” Time: One-Term Barack  —  The wreckage of the Democratic Party is strewn just about everywhere.  President Obama's carefully constructed 2008 Electoral College breakthrough is now just broken, a long-ago memory of what might have been a lasting shift in partisan alignment.

Kaplan, Inc  —  The Washington Post company is most identified with its newspaper, the Washington Post.  But in fact its biggest source of revenue is its Kaplan subsidiary.  Kaplan, in turn, is primarily identified with test prep work.  In fact, however, its low-performing for-profit university unit …

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).

Lou Dobbs' Big Fox Comeback  —  The former CNN anchor tells The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz why he's dropping his political aspirations to return to television, how his stance on immigrants has changed—and what he's planning for his new show.  —  One year after quitting CNN with a vow to help lead a …

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.

Phil Bredesen wants President Obama ‘mea culpa’  —  CHICAGO - President Obama should come back to the health care bargaining table with a “mea culpa” if Democrats want to have a meaningful conversation about improving the future of health care, a key Democratic governor tells POLITICO.

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.

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 …