House Democrats defy Obama on tax cut bill  —  (CNN) - Defying President Obama, House Democrats voted Thursday not to bring up the tax package that he negotiated with Republicans in its current form.  —  “This message today is very simple: That in the form that it was negotiated, it is not acceptable to the House Democratic caucus.

LEAKED EMAIL: Fox boss caught slanting news reporting  —  At the height of the health care reform debate last fall, Bill Sammon, Fox News' controversial Washington managing editor, sent a memo directing his network's journalists not to use the phrase “public option.”

December 2011  —  On the straight economics, the tax deal is worth doing.  But the history of the past two years drives home, if anyone doubted it, that economic policy must be considered from a political economy point of view; that you have to think ahead to how current policies affect …

Elizabeth Edwards funeral to be protested by Westboro church  —  According to the Westboro Baptist Church's Web site, the Kansas church known for its anti-homosexual protests will protest Elizabeth Edwards's funeral in Raleigh, N.C., near the Edenton Street United Methodist Church on Saturday.

Levin: Clock is ticking on defense bill  —  The leading Senate Democrat on military matters pleaded with the upper chamber to start debating the 2011 defense policy bill, but he struck a pessimistic tone over the bill's chances to make it to the president's desk for the final signature.

Palin in Progress: What Does She Want?  —  For the longest time, Sarah Palin was leery of Facebook.  Some of the comments left on her page during the 2008 vice-presidential campaign were so withering and unpleasant that it took months of coaxing by her staff and her daughters Bristol and Willow …

Most Americans Say They're Worse Off Under Obama: Poll  —  More than 50 percent of Americans say they are worse off now than they were two years ago when President Barack Obama took office, and two-thirds believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.

Sarah Palin's Reading List: Political Star Insists She's Well-Informed  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the only person to make the Most Fascinating list three consecutive years in a row.  Palin tells Walters that she is seriously considering a run for the White House and believes she can beat President Obama in 2012.

The Obama Stimulus Impact?  Zero  —  Liberals are still arguing that the federal spending stimulus wasn't large enough.  How many multiples of nothing—its result according to new evidence—would they like?  —  For the past two years, economists writing on these pages and elsewhere …

Senate Dems cancel vote on DREAM Act  —  (CNN) — Senate Democrats conceded Thursday they don't have the votes to pass the DREAM Act, a bill that would have offered a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children.  —  Democrats voted to pull the measure from consideration on Thursday.

GOP gets queasy over earmark ban  —  After agreeing to kill earmarks, some of the most conservative GOP lawmakers are already starting to ask themselves: What have we done?  —  Indeed, many Republicans are now worried that the bridges in their districts won't be fixed …

Ron Paul, Author of ‘End the Fed,’ to Lead Panel Overseeing Fed  —  Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) — Representative Ron Paul, Texas Republican and author of “End the Fed,” will take control of the House subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve.  —  House Financial Services chairman-elect Spencer Bachus …

The night Chris Matthews told the truth  —  I was watching Hardball tonight and came up with this when Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer said Republicans are for the “wealthy rich,” as opposed — I suppose — to the wealthy poor.  —  I hope you like it.  The transcript follows:

Iowa GOP chair seeking second term  —  Washington (CNN) - Iowa GOP chairman Matthew Strawn, coming off a dominant election cycle for Republicans in the Hawkeye State, told CNN Thursday he will seek a second term as the party's leader.  —  The move positions Strawn as a central player …

Iran Placing Medium-Range Missiles in Venezuela; Can Reach the U.S.  —  Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources[1], according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010.  According to the article …

Will Pigford vindicate Andrew Breitbart?  —  This summer Andrew Breitbart, publisher of a number of conservative news sites, found himself in the throws of a media scandal of dramatic proportions — and one which he later discovered went far deeper than a mere contextual snafu.