Mitch McConnell reverses; backs earmark ban  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared Monday that he now supports a GOP ban on earmarks, a stunning reversal that puts the Kentucky Republican in line with the tea-party wing of his party and conservative senators who have long sought to kill off pet projects.

Ethics trial ends, Charlie Rangel awaits fate  —  After his dramatic walkout from a high stake ethics trial, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) now awaits judgment from the ethics panel that has heard the evidence against him and has ended the public portion of the trial.

Safer Social Security  —  Social Security is not the key fiscal problem facing the nation.  Payments to its beneficiaries amount to 5 percent of the economy now; by 2050, they're projected to rise to about 6 percent.  Over the same period, federal health care costs will increase six times as much.

Westboro protesters face jeers and slashed tires  —  Related Story: McAlester soldier mourned  —  McALESTER - Members of a Kansas church that protests at military funerals may have found themselves in the wrong town Saturday.  —  Shortly after finishing their protest at the funeral of Army …

Open Letter to Ben Bernanke  —  The following is the text of an open letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signed by several economists, along with investors and political strategists, most of them close to Republicans:  —  We believe the Federal Reserve's large-scale asset purchase plan …

Vicious Infighting at NBC News  —  MSNBC's president vowed to fire Keith Olbermann after he threatened to take his case to other networks.  Howard Kurtz on the civil war that has NBC brass—and his own staff—fuming.  —  Keith Olbermann was having dinner with his manager at an Upper East Side restaurant …

Sen. Schumer wants a federal investigation and ban of reusable grocery bags  —  How many times have we heard from Al Gore, Hollyweird celebrities, and other environmentalists that the use of reusable bags are not only necessary for the environment, but is also useful for carrying those heavy items …

Virginia Thomas stepping down as head of Liberty Central  —  Virginia Thomas, political activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has decided to relinquish control of Liberty Central, the conservative group she founded less than a year ago, so that the organization can escape the …

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' Breaks TLC Ratings Record  —  Sarah Palin's documentary / travelogue / reality / biopic shattered TLC ratings records Sunday night.  —  The debut of Sarah Palin's Alaska delivered a whopping 5 million viewers.  —  The first episode of the eight-part series was the most-watched program launch in TLC's history.

Junior Democrats in Senate seek to change the way chamber does business  —  Senate Democrats are expected to elect the same party veterans as their leaders when they return to work this week, but a new class of junior lawmakers is exerting its influence by challenging the chamber's sacred traditions …

The World as He Finds It  —  On Wednesday David Axelrod, President Obama's top political adviser, appeared to signal that the White House was ready to cave on tax cuts — to give in to Republican demands that tax cuts be extended for the wealthy as well as the middle class.

A lame and spineless duck?  —  The lame-duck session of Congress that kicks off this week will test whether Democrats have spines made of Play-Doh and whether President Obama has decided to pretend that capitulation is conciliation.  —  Congress faces an enormous amount of unfinished business …

More Cameras in the House?  —  House Republican Leader John Boehner has promised to make the chamber more transparent when he becomes speaker next year.  —  Now, C-SPAN is asking him to make good on that promise.  —  The all-things-Congress cable network has asked Mr. Boehner's approval …

Foreclosure King Defaults on Rent, $15 Million Loan  —  For people pushed out of their own homes by the law firm of foreclosure king David J. Stern, consider Monday's news a piece of sweet irony.  Stern, the South Florida lawyer who built a business empire in the foreclosure industry …

CNN Poll: Election not a mandate for GOP  —  Washington (CNN) - Americans approve of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in the midterms, but only one in six say the election results were a mandate for the GOP, according to a new national poll.

Europe stumbles blindly towards its 1931 moment  —  It is the European Central Bank that should be printing money on a mass scale to purchase government debt, not the US Federal Reserve.  —  Unless the ECB takes fast and dramatic action, it risks destroying the currency it is paid to manage …

Medicare After Obama  —  Playing around with the NYT's deficit calculator I came up with a plan that involves raising the eligibility age for Medicare.  —  I'm a bleeding heart, at heart, and don't like the idea of any kind of cut on social welfare expenditures.

MCCAIN MOVES THE GOAL POSTS.... A couple of months ago, when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) led the charge to kill “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” repeal, he specifically relied on a Pentagon survey on the issue.  How, McCain said, could Congress possibly act before lawmakers know the results?

Top Republican: Hoyer is ‘the only one we really talk to’  —  Outgoing House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is the GOP's primary source of contact within the Democratic leadership, a top Republican said Monday.  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee …