Obama wants DREAM Act in lame duck  —  President Barack Obama told Democratic members of Congress Tuesday he wants the DREAM Act passed in the lame duck session as a “down payment” on substantial immigration reform, according to members at the meeting.  —  And, he said, he'd call resistant senators to get them on board.

Boehner Challenges Constitutionality of Health Reform Law  —  ABC News' John R. Parkinson reports:  —  Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner, R-Ohio, filed an amicus brief Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the health care law passed by Democrats earlier this year.

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” …

Lisa Murkowski: Jim DeMint cost us Senate majority  —  'So the real question is, what's his desire?'  Lisa Murkowski (left) said about Jim DeMint.  AP Photos  —  After ripping Sarah Palin, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski isn't mincing words about another one of her high-profile GOP critics: South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

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 …

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 …

Democrats in chaos over Nancy Pelosi power  —  The Democratic old guard will try to hold the line Wednesday against a rank-and-file rebellion intent on winning some concession — no matter how small — from a leadership team seeking reelection despite having presided over the loss of at least 59 Democratic seats earlier this month.

One Hundred Naked Citizens: One Hundred Leaked Body Scans  —  At the heart of the controversy over “body scanners” is a promise: The images of our naked bodies will never be public.  U.S. Marshals in a Florida Federal courthouse saved 35,000 images on their scanner.  These are those images.

PBS edits Tina Fey's remarks from Twain event  —  Tina Fey got a little political airbrushing from PBS Sunday night during its annual broadcast of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.  —  Fey, this year's recipient of the prize, caused a few ripples during her acceptance speech …

Top RNC aide quits, blasts Michael Steele  —  Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins resigned from his post Tuesday morning with a stinging indictment of Chairman Michael Steele's two-year tenure at the committee.  —  In a four-page letter to Steele …

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.

The Power of the President  —  Recommendations to Advance Progressive Change  —  A podium bears the seal of the President of the United States.  —  SOURCE: AP/J. Scott Applewhite  —  Statement from John Podesta  —  Introduction and summary  —  The opportunity

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.

THE LATEST (AND PROBABLY) FINAL ATTEMPT TO EXTEND JOBLESS AID.... Here we go again. … The larger dynamic is practically Dickensian — Republicans are fighting tooth and nail for $700 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country, but they're very likely to kill extended unemployment benefits …

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.

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 …

Neil Young warehouse blaze started in hybrid ‘LincVolt’ car  —  The three-alarm blaze that caused $1.1 million in damage to a warehouse filled with rock legend Neil Young's music equipment and memorabilia appears to have started in a one-of-a-kind hybrid car stored at the site, a fire official said Monday.

House ethics panel convicts Rep. Rangel on 11 of 13 counts of rule violations  —  Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), once one of the most powerful members of the House, was convicted Tuesday on 11 counts of violating ethics rules and now faces punishment.  —  Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) …

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.