Delaying Vote, Debt Panel Splits on Taxes and Spending  —  WASHINGTON — The chairmen of President Obama's debt-reduction commission have been unable to win support from any of the panel's elected officials for their proposed spending cuts and tax increases, underscoring the reluctance …

The Irony of Wikileaks  —  By threatening U.S. diplomacy, the hard left is undercutting its own worldview.  —  There's no question that many of the Wikileaks documents are a great read.  These diplomatic conversations between American officials and leaders from the Arab world, China …

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.

Judge upholds healthcare reform law  —  A federal judge in Virginia on Tuesday rejected a legal challenge to the healthcare reform law, the second time the law's mandate that people buy insurance has been ruled constitutional.  —  The lawsuit was brought by Liberty University …

30 Most Dynamic Cities in the World  —  What is the most dynamic city in the post-recession world?  —  The surprising answer is Istanbul, according to a new report that shows the developing world is leading the way out of the Great Recession.  —  Grading each metropolis by the growth …

Co-host spittin' mad over Spitzer  —  Tweet  —  Eliot Spitzer's TV sidekick is so fed up with playing second fiddle to the hooker-loving ex-gov that she's threatening to walk, sources told The Post yesterday.  —  Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker actually stormed off the set of the …

Is GOP Breaking Silence on Sarah Palin for President?  —  Among Potential GOP Contenders, Politeness Still Rules  —  When the television host and former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough published a scathing op-ed piece in Politico against Sarah Palin on Tuesday, he was not only trying to put a dent in her presidential ambitions.

Cantor Urges ‘Open Mind’ On VA Legislature Plan To Blow Up The Constitution  —  Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is part of a class of Republicans who say they want to change the country fundamentally — and to that end, Cantor isn't dismissing a plan by legislators in his home state …

Cheney to co-host fundraiser for Cino in RNC race  —  Washington (CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney and a clutch of former George W. Bush advisers have a horse in the Republican National Committee chairman race: Maria Cino.  —  CNN has learned that Cheney will be among the hosts next Thursday …

F.C.C. Chairman Outlines Broadband Framework  —  WASHINGTON — Thwarted by the courts, by lawmakers on Capitol Hill and by some of his fellow commissioners, the Federal Communications Commission chairman will try again on Wednesday to devise a new strategy for regulating broadband Internet service providers.

After the White House Summit: Towel-Snapping Partisanship Lives On  —  Nothing is as cloying as political Washington on its best behavior.  The mood was marzipan after Tuesday's bridge-over-troubled-tax-cuts White House smile-button summit with the congressional leadership of both parties.

Europe's Crisis Widens  —  Italy, Spain See Bonds Sink, Portugal Faces Rating Cut as Faith in Rescue Ebbs  —  In Rome, students protesting spending cuts clashed with police  —  Investors dismissed European leaders' latest attempt to restore market calm, raising doubts about whether governments …

From WikiChina  —  While secrets from WikiLeaks were splashed all over the American newspapers, I couldn't help but wonder: What if China had a WikiLeaker and we could see what its embassy in Washington was reporting about America?  I suspect the cable would read like this:

Colleges Are Producing New Style of AIDS Activist  —  NEW HAVEN — David Carel was never a rabble-rouser.  But amid the clutter of his dorm room at Yale University, Mr. Carel, baby-faced and slight-shouldered at 19, keeps evidence of his new life as an AIDS activist: posters …

Inaugural scoop: Steelman files for Senate  —  Former Missouri state treasurer Sarah Steelman is expected to file the official paperwork Wednesday to run for U.S. Senate in 2012, POLITICO has learned.  —  Before filing as a candidate with the Secretary of the Senate this afternoon …

‘Historic’ civil unions measure passes Illinois House  —  Posted by Ray Long, Monique Garcia and Rex Huppke at 2:58 p.m.; updated at 7:04 p.m.  —  Civil unions would be allowed in Illinois beginning next year for same-sex couples under legislation the House passed today.

Why the Spending Stimulus Failed  —  New economic research shows why lower tax rates do far more to spur growth.  —  President Obama and congressional leaders meeting yesterday confronted calls for four key fiscal decisions: short-run fiscal stimulus, medium-term fiscal consolidation, and long-run tax and entitlement reform.

Health Care Union Drops Coverage For Children  —  Perhaps you have to be familiar with New York politics to understand how truly bizarre this story is: 1199 is dropping its health care coverage for children.  1199 is the extraordinarily powerful local health care workers' union which has pushed …

Here I am listening — for the first time — to Rush Limbaugh talking about me.  —  I've got the podcast of today's show, where he's reading from this blog post of mine:  —  And let me invite Rush to go on Bloggingheads.tv and diavlog with me about the so-called chickification problems that plague our world today.