Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange  —  Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.

Amateur Hour: VA Judge Makes Elementary Error In Health Care Ruling  —  The Virginia federal district court judge who ruled yesterday that the individual mandate in the health care bill is unconstitutional is catching a lot of flack — and not just for having a financial interest in an anti-health care reform consulting firm.

Why the tax deal might fail  —  I listed some of the conservative critics of the tax deal in Wonkbook today (Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party Patriots, Charles Krauthammer), but Playbook shows their ranks are growing: Mitt Romney has an op-ed in USA Today saying the tax deal gives “President Obama ... reason to celebrate.

Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill  —  Senate Democrats have filed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through fiscal year 2011, according to Senate GOP sources.  —  The 1,924-page bill includes funding to implement the sweeping healthcare reform bill …

Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year  —  New spending bill totals $575.13 million per page  —  Forget about going quietly into the night.  —  Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a broad agenda for an end-of-session sprint that, in other years, could be a whole year's worth of activity …

Liberals giving up tax fight  —  A House liberal who has led the effort to stop President Obama's tax compromise with the GOP says efforts to change the package are futile.  —  Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who just a week ago circulated a letter signed by 54 Democrats urging opposition to the deal, now says the “die is cast.”

The Inequality That Matters  —  Does growing wealth and income inequality in the United States presage the downfall of the American republic?  Will we evolve into a new Gilded Age plutocracy, irrevocably split between the competing interests of rich and poor?

Marine Commandant Suggests Presence Of Gays Would Endanger The Lives Of Straight Marines  —  Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos — who has opposed repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell — suggested that if Congress lifts the ban against open service and allows gays …

Actress Thora Birch Fired From ‘Dracula’  —  The producers of the Off Broadway revival of “Dracula” fired their star actress Thora Birch on Friday, four days before the play's first performance, the production's director and Ms. Birch said in interviews on Monday.

Carter: Biggest failure was '80 loss  —  Former President Jimmy Carter says his biggest failure during his term in the White House was that he didn't get to spend another four years there.  —  “I guess my biggest failure was not getting reelected,” he said in an interview with Big Think, referring to the 1980 presidential election.

Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth  —  FORT WORTH — Stand on a corner in this city and you might get a case of theological whiplash.  —  A public bus rolls by with an atheist message on its side: “Millions of people are good without God.”  Seconds later, a van follows bearing a riposte: “I still love you.

Scarborough blasts MSNBC's bias: They always will say ‘a George W. Bush-appointee,’ ‘a Reagan appointee’  —  “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough doesn't let much slip by him - well not today, at least.  —  On his December 14 program, Scarborough pointed out the bias at his network, MSNBC, and even offered a particular example.

Memo to the media: They're called “obstructionists”  —  That sore-loser phrase doesn't seem to get much use these days.  Yet watching Senate Republicans in the minority essentially close down the chamber, not allowing any votes to proceed until their demands are met regarding tax cuts for the very wealthy …

Some Tax Context.  —  As we move toward some kind of resolution of the tax debate, I thought it might be worthwhile to put some things in context, particularly the question of the top marginal tax rate.  That's the one conservatives are so desperate to keep low, and part of the reason liberals …

Corker assembling bloc to demand reforms ahead of debt ceiling vote  —  Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday he's hoping to assemble a bloc of senators who will demand tax and spending reforms before agreeing to vote to raise the U.S. debt ceiling next year.

Obama's Judges Blocked At Historic Rate  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … As the first congressional session of Obama's presidency draws to a close, what began as a slow process of confirmation has ballooned into a full-blown judicial crisis.  The Senate has overseen the slowest pace …

“Erin Brockovich” Town Shows No Cancer Cluster  —  Hinkley, California, the town made famous in the Oscar-winning Julia Roberts movie Erin Brockovich, does not show any evidence of an increased rate of cancers.  —  Pacific Gas and Electric, which released a toxic plume of hexavalent chromium 6 …

Census: Segregation hits 100-year lows in most American metro areas  —  New Census figures released Tuesday shows that 75 percent of US metro areas - most of them in the South and West - saw racial segregation drop to levels not seen for more than a century.  —  Atlanta

Moody's May Cut US Rating on Tax Package  —  Moody's warned Monday that it could move a step closer to cutting the U.S. Aaa rating if President Obama's tax and unemployment benefit package becomes law.  —  The plan agreed to by President Obama and Republican leaders last week could push up debt levels …

As Electoral Ground Shifts, Bloomberg Could Skip the Party  —  On Sunday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg flatly ruled out an independent run for president in 2012.  On Monday, he appeared at the national unveiling in New York of No Labels, a group that aspires to build a grass-roots movement …