Americans Support Two Major Elements of Tax Compromise  —  Liberal vs. Moderate/Conservative Democrats disagree on extending tax cuts for all  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Two major elements included in the tax agreement reached Monday between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders in Congress meet with broad public support.

O'Donnell calls extending jobless benefits a ‘tragedy’  —  Christine O'Donnell on Tuesday compared the “tragedy” of extending unemployment benefits to Pearl Harbor and the death of Elizabeth Edwards.  —  “Today marks a lot of tragedy,” O'Donnell, the Tea Party-backed GOP Senate candidate from Delaware …

In Her Defense, I'm Sure the Moose Had it Coming  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  “Unless you've never worn leather shoes, sat upon a leather chair or eaten meat, save your condemnation.”  —  You're right, Sarah, we'll all just go f**k ourselves now.  —  The snotty quote was posted by Sarah Palin on …

MasterCard hacked in WikiLeaks protest  —  Operation: Payback hacks into MasterCard site over payment network's decision to cease taking donations to WikiLeaks  —  The website of MasterCard, the international credit card, has been hacked and partially paralysed by hackers …

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 …

COLLINS POSITIONED TO KILL DADT REPEAL.... We talked earlier Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) surprise move this morning: he's getting started tonight on the defense authorization act, which includes a provision on repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”

Loose Change  —  Inside a shaken White House.  —  Of all the historical analogies urged on Obama following November's drubbing—Truman in '48, Reagan after '82, Clinton after '94—the one the White House has opted for is easily the most obscure.  That would be Patrick in '10—as in Deval Patrick …

Senate DREAM Act cloture vote today, 4pm Eastern; Update: New House bill introduced  —  Now is the time to melt those phone lines and make yourselves heard on the multi-billion-dollar DREAM Act illegal alien student bailout.  —  The Senate is scheduled to take a cloture vote on the DREAM Act at 4pm Eastern today.

N.Y. Democrat wins reelection, bringing House races to a close  —  Republican Randy Altschuler conceded to Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday, bringing the last undecided House race to a conclusion.  —  “After consulting with my family and campaign staff, I am ending my campaign …

President Obama's Sister Souljah week  —  President Obama's liberal critics are furious, vocal and useful to a White House trying to solve the riddle of reelection.  —  White House officials who last year viewed the “professional left” as an annoying bunch of ungrateful idealists living …

Obama Goes Medieval on the Left  —  Damn.  I skipped Obama's press conference today, but I guess that was a big mistake.  If my Twitter feed is anything to go by, progressive heads were exploding all over the intertubes.  Here is Philip Klein's summary:

A December to Remember Compromise Boosts Growth Prospects for 2011  —  Late yesterday afternoon, President Obama announced a wide-ranging compromise with Republican congressional leaders that would extend for two years essentially all the Bush-era tax cuts in exchange for an extension …

Baltimore terror plot arrest: Man accused of plotting to blow up military recruiting center  —  A Baltimore man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a plot to blow up an Armed Forces recruiting center in Catonsville, Md., a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed.

Statement by Senator Mark Pryor on Repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy  —  On many previous occasions, I have said that I would oppose repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell until I had heard from our servicemen and women regarding this policy.  I have now carefully reviewed all of the findings …

In Which Thomas Friedman Insults the Chinese By Pretending That He Can Think Like Them  —  Let's go to the tape: … Where to begin?  —  First off, fight over “how and where an airport security officer can touch” Americans is one that goes to the very core of privacy concerns that have been part …

Bloomberg, in major speech, offers ‘a middle way’  —  New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg this morning put economic substance to his pox-on-both-your-houses criticism of Democratic and Republican governance, offering his own “middle way” — and the clearest suggestion yet that he's positioning himself for the national stage.