ALL 42 SENATE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE HOSTAGE PLAN.... The AP had an item late last night, noting that Senate Republicans were circulating a letter, “quietly collecting signatures” on a plan to “block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending.”

The Dickishness Of The GOP  —  What we've observed these past two years is a political party that knows nothing but scorched earth tactics, cannot begin to see any merits in the other party's arguments, refuses to compromise one inch on anything, and has sought from the very beginning to do nothing but destroy the Obama presidency.

DADT No More?  Republicans Threaten To Block All Dem Initiatives  —  Just hours after Democrats and Republicans agreed to bargain on tax cuts, and fewer hours still after Defense Secretary Robert Gates implored Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year, word leaked that Republicans …

House May Block Food Safety Bill Over Senate Error  —  A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senate's lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.

The moral standards of WikiLeaks critics  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  Time's Joe Klein writes this about the WikiLeaks disclosures: … Do you have that principle down?  If “a single foreign national is rounded up and put in jail” because of the WikiLeaks disclosure — even a …

Bowles-Simpson vs Current Law  —  Surely the strangest thing about the Bowles-Simpson debt reduction plan is that, relative to current law, it . . . increases the public debt load over the next ten years:  —  Obviously starting around 2020 or so Bowles-Simpson starts doing better than current law …

Commission's final deficit report preserves controversial spending cuts; panel to vote Friday on whether to endorse plan  —  The leaders of President Obama's fiscal commission released a final report Wednesday that is full of political dynamite, including sharp cuts in military spending …