Behind delayed summit: Republican distrust of President Obama  —  The roots of the partisan standoff that led to the postponement of the bipartisan White House summit scheduled for Thursday date back to January, when President Barack Obama crashed a GOP meeting in Baltimore to deliver a humiliating rebuke of House Republicans.

Sarah Palin's Daughter Uses Homophobic Slurs  —  Sarah Palin's 16-year-old daughter Willow Palin used multiple homophobic slurs — including the word f**got — to attack a Facebook user who criticized her mom's new reality show .... TMZ has learned.  —  During the premiere of “Sarah Palin's Alaska” …

Murkowski's lead more than 10,000 votes  —  Today's review of write-in ballots ended with Sen. Lisa Murkowski enjoying an apparently insurmountable 10,420-vote lead over Joe Miller.  —  Murkowski also now has collected more votes that went unchallenged by Miller ballot observers than Miller's total vote count.

Payroll tax holiday and other measures to reduce the debt  —  This morning, a bipartisan task force that we co-chair unveils a bold, comprehensive plan to dramatically reduce America's deficits and debt and strengthen our economy, enabling the nation to reclaim its future.

Michael Bloomberg & Joe Scarborough: The Independent Odd Couple  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — There's no campaign yet, and there may never be, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and MSNBC's morning talk-show host Joe Scarborough have begun trying to figure out whether …

Poll: 4 in 5 Support Full-Body Airport Scanners  —  CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.  —  Americans have differing views on two potentially inconvenient and invasive practices that airports could implement …

The Bald Racism Of Rush Limbaugh  —  The image above appears on Rush Limbaugh's Web site.  Is any American more adept at exploiting racial dog whistles?  It's always egregious enough to be calculatingly offensive, but never quite an open and shut case, because most of all the talk radio host revels …

Rare Honor for a Living Service Member  —  WASHINGTON — In an emotional ceremony, President Obama on Tuesday awarded the Medal of Honor to an Army staff sergeant who placed himself in the line of fire in Afghanistan to try to save his squad mates and to protect and comfort a dying American soldier.

Insurers Gave U.S. Chamber $86 Million Used to Oppose Obama's Health Law  —  Health insurers last year gave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce $86.2 million that was used to oppose the health-care overhaul law, according to tax records and people familiar with the donation.

Bean concedes; Walsh wins seat by 291 votes  —  By a margin of 291 votes out of more than 200,000 cast, GOP challenger Joe Walsh emerged Tuesday as the winner over U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean in their nail-biting 8th District congressional race.  —  Bean, a three-term Democrat …

Roger Ailes Lets Rip  —  In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, the Fox News chief says Obama thinks differently from most Americans, defends Murdoch's GOP donations, and admits Beck sometimes goes too far.  —  In the media world, as in politics, having a high-profile target can be a very good thing.

U.S. Sets 50 Bank Probes  —  FDIC Steps Up Investigations at Failed Lenders; ‘These Numbers Will Increase’  —  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is conducting about 50 criminal investigations of former executives, directors and employees at U.S. banks that have failed since the start of the financial crisis.

The Tina Brown Turnaround  —  Tina Brown was in a state.  It was Tuesday morning, Nov. 9, and the Daily Beast editor was in Barry Diller's office at IAC headquarters on the West Side.  Talks with Sidney Harman about merging the site with his recently acquired Newsweek were back on—big time …

GOP freshman feel Tea Party pressure  —  The overwhelming majority of Republican challengers ran on pledges to repeal the law and already face pressure from Tea Party activists to act on those promises — particularly if they want the grassroots movement's support in 2012.

AIPAC Gets Down and Dirty in Pushback Against Rosen Defamation Suit  —  WASHINGTON — The espionage case against two senior officials of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington was dropped last year.  But it has not been forgotten, and is now threatening to draw the lobby into new depths of mudslinging.

Top Republican Official, Breaking With Party Chairman, Resigns  —  WASHINGTON — The political director of the Republican National Committee resigned Tuesday, delivering a scathing condemnation of Michael Steele, the embattled party chairman, whom he criticized as spending too much …

Sources: Sen. Baucus may introduce compromise package on Bush tax cuts  —  Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is considering introducing a tax package by the end of the week that would include a two-year extension of all the Bush-era tax cuts, sources told The Hill on Tuesday.

Dick Cheney: History “Beginning to Come Around” on Bush  —  At groundbreaking ceremony in Dallas for the George W. Bush Presidential Center today, former Vice President Dick Cheney said “history is beginning to come around” to a more positive view of former President George W. Bush.

Obama's hand in your crotch  —  White House denial of Islamic threat to blame for TSA groping  —  The Transportation Security Administration's demeaning new “enhanced pat-down” procedures are a direct result of the Obama administration's willful blindness to the threat from Islamic radicals.

Dolan Chosen as President of U.S. Bishops' Group  —  BALTIMORE — In a surprise move, the bishops that lead the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, elected Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York to be their president on Tuesday, rejecting the conference's more liberal vice president.

Pretty Good for Government Work  —  My mother told me to send thank-you notes promptly.  I've been remiss.  —  Let me remind you why I'm writing.  Just over two years ago, in September 2008, our country faced an economic meltdown.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the pillars that supported …