How the White House cut its deal and lost its base  —  If you look at the numbers alone, the tax cut deal looks to have robbed Republicans blind.  The GOP got around $95 billion in tax cuts for wealthy Americans and $30 billion in estate tax cuts.  Democrats got $120 billion in payroll-tax cuts …

Cancer claims Elizabeth Edwards  —  Elizabeth Edwards, author of ‘Saving Graces’ , greets and autographs copies of her book for the community in 2006.  —  Elizabeth Anania Edwards, who became a national figure in her fight against cancer and as a partner in her husband John's political career, died today.

Tax Package Will Aid Nearly All, Especially Highest Earners  —  The deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years includes a bevy of additional credits and deductions that will reduce the burden on nearly all households.  —  But the tax benefits will flow most heavily to the highest earners …

DeMint To Oppose “the Deal”  —  Senator JimDeMint just announced on my program that he will oppose the deal as well as a vote for cloture on the deal.  He is reluctant to criticize GOP Senate leadership, but believes the deal at a minimum has to be paid for, and that we need “a permanent economy” …

Obama administers a stern scolding to lefty critics  —  I noted this morning that Obama's strategy going forward will be to position himself as Washington's lone resident adult in a town full of squabbling children on right and left, and at his presser just now, Obama offered a surprisingly stern …

Julian Assange's Great Luck  —  Why his arrest and jailing in the United Kingdom is good news for him.  —  A U.K. magistrates' court denied Julian Assange bail and jailed him this morning over charges filed in Sweden that he had violated sex laws in that country last summer.

U.S. Drops Demand on Israel in Setback to Mideast Talks  —  WASHINGTON—The Obama administration abandoned its effort to convince Israel to renew a freeze on building settlements in the West Bank, temporarily derailing hopes for a fresh round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Seminal Moment  —  Let's be honest with each other here: Presidential press conferences are usually news voids into which a lot of ink and chatter are dumped.  —  But Obama's press conference this afternoon will be seen as a turning point if not in his Presidency then in how we understand and perceive him and his approach to politics.

Scientists see fatal flaws in the NASA study of arsenic-based life.  —  On Thursday, Dec. 2, Rosie Redfield sat down to read a new paper called, “A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus.”  Despite its innocuous title, the paper had great ambitions.

Murmurs of Primary Challenge to Obama  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's compromise with Republicans on extending tax cuts for the wealthy, which his self-described progressive critics see as a profound betrayal, is bound to intensify a debate that has been bubbling up on liberal blogs …

Harry Reid tries to add online poker to tax bill  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to use the tax cut package President Barack Obama brokered with Republicans to legalize online poker, POLITICO has learned — a move that could further complicate the deal Obama announced Monday.

TSA Response to “TSA Breast Milk Screening” Video  —  Nearly a year ago, a passenger going through airport screening on two separate occasions requested that her breast milk be visually inspected and not screened by the X-ray machine.  She filed a complaint with TSA regarding her screening experience.

WikiLeaks: Texas Company Helped Pimp Little Boys To Stoned Afghan Cops  —  ​Another international conflict, another horrific taxpayer-funded sex scandal for DynCorp, the private security contractor tasked with training the Afghan police.  —  While the company is officially based in the DC area …

Olbermann, Assange, and the Holocaust Denier  —  When you want to believe, you'll believe anything.  —  It now seems that the smears in the Julian Assange rape case are bidirectional, from the exceptionally flimsy charges accusing the WikiLeaks boss of being a sexual predator to the increasingly loud …