The Palin Network  —  On the night of the midterm elections earlier this month, Sarah Palin stayed up until 3 in the morning.  From her hotel bedroom in Manhattan, she and her husband, Todd, followed the returns while she wrote e-mails on her iPad — congratulating winners, consoling losers …

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.

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.

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.

One Way to Trim Deficit: Cultivate Growth  —  We look back on the late 1990s as a rare time when the federal government ran budget surpluses.  We tend to forget that those surpluses came as a surprise to almost everybody.  —  As late as 1998, the Congressional Budget Office was predicting a deficit for 1999.

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 …

Has Airport Security Gone Too Far?  —  Pilots and travelers are rebelling against scanners that douse them with X-rays and reveal their private parts.  There must be a better way.  —  In May, Transportation Security Administration screener Rolando Negrin pummeled a co-worker with his government-issued baton.

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 …

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.

Health panel brings out big guns  —  The state's health insurance connector — the highly touted agency that aims to bring cheap medical care to the masses — has turned into a legal pit bull by aggressively going after a growing number of Bay Staters who say they can't afford mandated insurance …

N.J. GOP opens ‘Governor Chris Christie’ online store for T-shirts, bumper stickers  —  TRENTON — How about some Chris Christie under the Christmas tree?  —  The Republican governor's brand of tough-talking conservatism has been pushed through YouTube, blogs and stump speeches.

Republican fiscal hawks avoid Appropriations Committee like the plague  —  Turns out they're all talk and no action: … Yeah, be careful what you ask for.  You get elected grandstanding about government overspending, you might actually have to ... you know, put your name to specifics on where to cut government spending.

Alvin Greene: ‘Born to be president’  —  Former South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Alvin Greene has only the highest hopes for his political future despite his crushing defeat two weeks ago — he thinks he will be the next president.  —  In an interview outside a Columbia …

Why Democrats don't dump Nancy Pelosi  —  To the outside world, what House Democrats are poised to do later this morning seems to defy logic: Why would politicians who supposedly care above all about public opinion and their own hides stick with an unpopular leader who just carried them through …

Bloomberg Says Independent Candidate Can't Win Contest for U.S. Presidency  —  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been mentioned as a potential U.S. presidential candidate, said he doesn't believe an independent can win.  —  Bloomberg, who isn't affiliated with Republicans or Democrats …

State representatives file birth certificate bill filed for presidential candidates  —  AUSTIN — A state representative on Tuesday filed a bill that would require any candidate for president or vice president of the United States to show his or her birth certificate to the Texas secretary of state …

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 …