DeMint will force readings of START treaty and omnibus bill  —  Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will force readings of both a nuclear arms treaty and $1.1 trillion spending bill that could eat up hours of the remaining lame-duck Congress.  —  DeMint will invoke a senatorial privilege to ask …

Obama plans 2011 staff makeover  —  President Barack Obama has delayed the most significant staff shuffle of his presidency until after New Year's — but the changes may be more sweeping than anticipated and could include the hiring of high-profile Democrats defeated in the midterms.

Congress' Job Approval Rating Worst in Gallup History  —  Thirteen percent approve of the way Congress is handling its job  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' assessment of Congress has hit a new low, with 13% saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job.

Financial Crisis Panel In Turmoil As Republicans Defect; Plan To Blame Government For Crisis  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … The four Republicans appointed to the commission investigating the root causes of the financial crisis plan to bypass the bipartisan panel and release their own report Wednesday …

Mark Zuckerberg  —  On the afternoon of Nov. 16, 2010, Mark Zuckerberg was leading a meeting in the Aquarium, one of Facebook's conference rooms, so named because it's in the middle of a huge work space and has glass walls on three sides so everybody can see in.

FOXLEAKS: Fox boss ordered staff to cast doubt on climate science  —  In the midst of global climate change talks last December, a top Fox News official sent an email questioning the “veracity of climate change data” and ordering the network's journalists to “refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed …

It's Scary Out There in Reporting Land  —  ‘Beats are fundamental to journalism, but our foundation is crumbling.’  —  To understand how badly we're doing the most basic work of journalism in covering the law enforcement beat, try sitting in a barbershop.  When I was getting my last haircut …

Anybody but Steele  —  Say what you will about him — Michael Steele plays by nobody else's rules.  He shocked the political world on Monday night by announcing he'd run for reelection as chairman of the Republican National Committee.  We admire his pluck, but not his judgment.

Air Force Blocks Sites That Posted Secret Cables  —  WASHINGTON — The Air Force is barring its personnel from using work computers to view the Web sites of The New York Times and more than 25 other news organizations and blogs that have posted secret cables obtained by WikiLeaks, Air Force officials said Tuesday.

Fed Signals Stronger Economy Won't Slow $600 Billion Stimulus  —  Federal Reserve policy makers indicated that signs of economic strength won't deter them from pumping money into the financial system so long as unemployment remains elevated.  —  The Federal Open Market Committee said yesterday …

In shift, Sarah Palin stresses electability as a reason to run for president  —  Over the past month, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has quietly altered her case for the presidency in a savvy shift of rhetoric.  —  The lofty goal?  Turning the main reason a Republican might oppose her into the primary reason for voting for her.

How We Can Honor Richard Holbrooke's Memory  —  As Richard Holbrooke's friends and colleagues gathered in the entrance to George Washington Hospital last night to console each other and begin the vigil for his soul, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came down from saying goodbye to her friend and adviser.

Intelligence Reports Offer Dim Views of Afghan War  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to release a review of American strategy in Afghanistan that will claim progress in the nine-year-old war there, two new classified intelligence reports offer a more negative assessment …

Assange's Extremist Employees  —  Why is WikiLeaks employing a well-known Holocaust denier and his disgraced son?  —  Last week, I wrote that the widely-linked article positing that the CIA was behind a Swedish woman's accusation of rape against Julian Assange was authored by a Russian-born …

House Democrats consider amendments to estate tax  —  As the Senate prepared Tuesday to push through a sweeping tax package negotiated by the White House and congressional Republicans, House leaders were looking to amend the measure to satisfy the concerns of angry liberals without unraveling the deal altogether.

Manhattan Moment: Courts shouldn't ignore due process to create class actions  —  Wal-Mart v. Dukes, a case claiming job discrimination against at least 1.5 million women, reached the Supreme Court last week after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed, in a 6-5 vote …

Is oil and gas production causing earthquakes in Arkansas?  —  Guy, Ark., has been hit with hundreds of earthquakes in the last few months, leaving many trying to figure out what is causing all the shaking.  —  Something is shaking under Guy, Ark., and no one is quite sure what's going on.

Tax Deal Is Shaping 2012 GOP Campaign  —  WASHINGTON—The tax deal now before Congress has kicked off the first real debate of the 2012 Republican presidential campaign, with several prospective candidates heralding the package as a victory for taxpayers and others criticizing it as a costly stimulus bill in disguise.

Will Liberals Challenge Obama Amid the Snows of New Hampshire? … Liberal Democrats are, by nature and history, a perpetually disappointed voting bloc.  They are either consigned to wail in the political wilderness (the Bush years and the Reagan years) or else the fruits of victory quickly sour …