The Hijacked Commission  —  Count me among those who always believed that President Obama made a big mistake when he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform — a supposedly bipartisan panel charged with coming up with solutions to the nation's long-run fiscal problems.

Murkowski confident as write-in tally grows  —  WRITE-INS: Miller camp steps up challenges, threatens new lawsuit.  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  The Division of Elections has reviewed write-in ballots for almost half the precincts in Alaska and is counting nearly 98 percent of them for Lisa Murkowski.

Why I'm Running for RNC Chairman  —  FROM: Saul Anuzis, MI-NCM  —  RE: Announcement for RNC Chairman  —  DATE: November 12, 2010  —  Congratulations on your success, nationwide and state-by-state.

Pelosi: “We Didn't Lose Because of Me.”  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has the “overwhelming support” of fellow Democrats in her bid to become minority leader in the next Congress, and says she's not to blame for the Democrats' mid-term debacle.  —  “We didn't lose the election because of me …

Cindy McCain does video opposing DADT, accuses ‘our government’ of sending signal that bullying is okay - her hubbie is the lead defender of DADT  —  John McCain is leading the filibuster against the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” “repeal” legislation in the Senate (it's not an actual repeal, but we'll leave that for another time).

Daily Beast, Newsweek to Wed!  —  Some weddings take longer to plan than others.  The union of The Daily Beast and Newsweek magazine finally took place with a coffee-mug toast between all parties Tuesday evening, in a conference room atop Beast headquarters, the IAC building on Manhattan's West 18th Street.

Social Security reforms could be bombshell for House GOP  —  Republicans who took over the House on pledges to reduce federal spending and get the nation's budget in order are running into the third rail of U.S. politics.  —  A draft proposal from the co-chairman of President Obama's fiscal commission …

Top Palin aide is on Soros' payroll  —  Glenn Beck spent the past week denouncing the liberal billionaire and philanthropist George Soros as a “puppet master” who is orchestrating a coup “to bring America to her knees.”  —  Given Soros' alleged role plotting to destroy the United States …

National Greatness Agenda  —  Elections come and go, but the United States is still careening toward bankruptcy.  By 2020, the U.S. will be spending $1 trillion a year just to pay the interest on the national debt.  Sometime between now and then the catastrophe will come.  —  It will come with amazing swiftness.

Bobby Jindal hammers Barack Obama in new book  —  NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal uses a new book to portray President Obama as disconnected from the Gulf oil spill, charging that he was more focused on the political aftermath than the actual impact of the crisis.

Obama's Glow Dims on Trip to Asia  —  SEOUL, South Korea — Foreign leaders could not seem to get enough of President Obama when he arrived on the world stage two years ago.  They brought copies of his memoir to global conferences seeking his autograph.  They angled for handshakes and …

Sarah Palin E-mail Hacker Sentenced to 1 Year in Custody  —  David Kernell, the former Tennessee student convicted of hacking into Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account, was sentenced on Friday to one year in custody.  —  Kernell, 22, was convicted earlier this year of misdemeanor computer intrusion …

Your Child Left Behind  —  For years, poor performance by students in America relative to those in other countries has been explained away as a consequence of our nationwide diversity.  But what if you looked more closely, breaking down our results by state and searching not for an average, but for excellence?

School Makes Boy Take American Flag Off Bike  —  DENAIR -  —  13-year-old Cody Alicea rides with an American flag on the back of his bike.  He says he does this to be patriotic and to honor veterans, like his own grandfather, Robert.  He's had the flag on his bike for two months but Monday, was told to take it down.

The 8,011-Person Crisis  —  ObamaCare's pre-existing condition program is a bust.  —  Democrats think they know how to run the insurance industry better than the insurance industry, and they're getting the chance to prove it under ObamaCare.  Consider the early returns on its plan …

Chicago: Front line in war on terror  —  Officer spotted Mumbai terrorist running his children through military drills in park  —  On a summer day last year, David Coleman Headley, like many fathers, took his children to a Chicago park.  —  There, Headley ran his children through military drills …

New deepwater drilling permits: Zilch  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — President Obama lifted his moratorium on deepwater oil drilling nearly a month ago, but the government still hasn't issued any new permits in the Gulf of Mexico.  —  And most analysts say permits will be slow in coming through 2011.

DNA Tests Undermine Evidence in Texas Execution  —  New results show Claude Jones was put to death on flawed evidence.  —  Claude Jones always claimed that he wasn't the man who walked into an East Texas liquor store in 1989 and shot the owner.  He professed his innocence right up until …

Top Earners May Face Big Hit  —  Proposed Elimination of Deductions, Investment Breaks Aims to Lift Tax Revenue  —  A presidential panel's draft overhaul of the tax system could hit higher earners hard, largely by wiping out deductions and investment breaks that tend to especially benefit …