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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.”

Reid, Senate Dems plan to move START arms treaty as soon as Wednesday  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to bring the New START nuclear treaty to the floor as soon as Wednesday and is confident he can secure 67 votes to ratify it.  —  “We could get to the START treaty as soon as tomorrow …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

“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 …

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 …

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.

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

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.