Collins Hands Reid A Final Offer On Don't Ask, Don't Tell  —  Here's what Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that she needs to support a full Senate debate on the defense authorization bill (the vehicle for Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal): 15 guaranteed votes on amendments …

Exclusive: Sarah Palin Under Cyber-Attack from Wikileaks Supporters in 'Operation Payback'*  —  The website and personal credit card information of former Gov. Sarah Palin were cyber-attacked today by Wikileaks supporters, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate tells ABC News in an email.

Don't topple economy by rejecting tax deal, Obama tells the Dems  —  President Obama warned his fellow Democrats on Wednesday that they risk plunging the country into a double-dip recession if they reject his tax-cut deal with Republicans.  —  As the White House intensified pressure …

Michael Bloomberg: I'm Not Running for President.  Period.  —  New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg - who is often discussed as a potential third party candidate for the presidency in 2012 - told CBS News' Katie Couric Wednesday there is “nothing” that would compel him to enter the coming presidential race.

Dominoes  —  There was something strange to me about the GOP reaction yesterday to the tax cut news.  Or at least something unexpected.  I hadn't made clear sense of it until I got this news late last night, but all day yesterday I couldn't shake the feeling that the whole didn't add up.

House of Representatives narrowly approves Dream Act; Senate must now vote on immigration bill  —  In a last-ditch showdown on immigration relief for illegal migrants, the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly approved the so-called Dream Act that would offer …

Palin's Republican Problem  —  It's well documented that Sarah Palin has problems with Democrats and independents, but the first seven states where we've looked at the 2012 Presidential election make it clear that she has a Republican problem as well.  —  It's not that Republicans …

Obama Opens The Door To Raid Social Security  —  One of the interesting aspects of the “framework” announced by Obama to prevent marginal income tax increases on anyone is that part of the quid pro quo demanded by Obama was a one-year 2% drop in the portion of social security (FICA) …

Mark Zandi on the tax cut deal  —  I called Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi this morning to see what he thought of the tax cut deal.  When it comes to stimulus, Zandi's figures are probably the most influential in the country, and I've cited them several times before on this blog.  So what does he think?

White House: Failure to Pass Tax Cut Compromise Bill Would “Significantly Increase” Risk of Double-Dip Recession  —  At an off-camera briefing this afternoon, National Economic Council director Larry Summers said that a failure to pass the tax cut compromise President Obama negotiated …

The crux of the WikiLeaks debate  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  WNYC's Brian Lehrer has spent the last week hosting one WikiLeaks critic after the next on his program, and it seems rather clear that he, too, is a fairly emphatic critic of the group and its founder, Julian Assange.

Gitmo “Recidivism.”  —  The first thing to note about the new summary of a report on the “recidivism” of Gitmo detainees is that “recidivism” is an odd term, given that most of the detainees transferred from Gitmo haven't been convicted of crimes and that the term itself in this context is used …

China Resisted U.S. Pressure on Rights of Nobel Winner  —  BEIJING — It was just before Christmas 2009, and Ding Xiaowen was not happy.  —  The United States ambassador had just written China's foreign minister expressing concern for Liu Xiaobo, the Beijing intellectual imprisoned …

House Backs Legal Status for Many Young Immigrants  —  A bill to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant students passed the House of Representatives late Wednesday, giving President Obama an unexpected although largely symbolic victory in the final days of Democratic control …