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.

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.

Rep.-elect West says conservative talk radio host won't be his chief of staff  —  Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) announced Thursday that a controversial radio host would not serve as his chief of staff after all.  —  West said in a statement that Joyce Kaufman, the conservative radio talk show host …

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.

POLITICO, NBC News co-host first 2012 debate at Reagan Library  —  Former first lady Nancy Reagan announced plans Thursday to invite the leading Republican contenders to the first debate of the presidential primary season, to be held at her late husband's presidential library and co-hosted by POLITICO and NBC News.

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 …

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 …

Poppy-burning Muslim protesters mar Armistice Day commemorations as millions fall silent to remember war dead  —  Islamic protesters sparked fury today after they burned a model of a poppy and deliberately broke the silence at Armistice Day commemorations in central London.

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 …

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 …

Will Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Cause Hyperinflation?  —  Hey inflation, I'm going to pump you up, maybe (Scott Audette/REUTERS)  —  But could the greatest potential culprit of wealth-destroying, Germany-1930s-type hyper-inflation be, not the central bank, but Palin and the Tea Party?

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 …

FreedomWorks does its own freshman orientation  —  Official freshman orientation begins in Washington on Sunday for newly elected lawmakers, but FreedomWorks has its own plans for incoming tea partiers.  —  The organization, led by former Majority Leader Dick Armey, is quietly running …