The new comeback kid  —  If Barack Obama wins reelection in 2012, as is now more likely than not, historians will mark his comeback as beginning on Dec. 6, the day of the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010.  —  Obama had a bad November.  Self-confessedly shellacked in the midterm election …

$1.1 trillion spending bill collapses as GOP senators yank support  —  Senate Democrats have given up on their plan to pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill in the face of unified Republican opposition.  —  The bill's collapse will take with it more than 6,000 earmarks …

PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: ‘A government takeover of health care’  —  In the spring of 2009, a Republican strategist settled on a brilliant and powerful attack line for President Barack Obama's ambitious plan to overhaul America's health insurance system.

Exclusive: Sarah Palin on 2012 Plans, Double Standards for Women  —  Palin Says Thinking About Presidential Run Is a ‘Prayerful Consideration’  —  Sarah Palin is surveying the lay of the land to consider whether to make a presidential run in 2012, she told “Good Morning America” …

The Revolution Next Time?  —  It has been 15 years since the Rehnquist court began applying the constitutional brakes to assertions of federal power that had seemed unassailable since the New Deal.  Its first target was modest, a five-year-old federal statute called the Gun-Free School Zones Act …

Retailer praised after killing 3 robbers in Houston  —  In the back room of a humble jewelry store and pawn shop in Houston's East End Thursday afternoon, a gunman tied Eva Castillo's wrists tightly — too tightly.  She complained of the pain, so he loosened the bindings.

Snub for Obamas as Royal sources reveal they will not be invited to Prince William's wedding  —  President Obama and his wife Michelle will not be invited to Prince William's wedding next year.  —  Because Prince William is not yet heir to the throne, his wedding to Kate Middleton is not classed …

Why is Obama leaving the grass roots on the sidelines?  —  In the wake of President Obama's deal to extend the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, pundits have focused on how Obama has alienated the left.  But the issue isn't the left - it's the list.

The Limits of the Taxing Power  —  An interesting question emerges from one of my comment threads on whether or not congress should be able to use the taxing power to get over limits on its enumerated powers.  —  1) Can Congress enact a $50,000 tax on second term abortions?

In 500 Billion Words, New Window on Culture  —  With little fanfare, Google has made a mammoth database culled from nearly 5.2 million digitized books available to the public for free downloads and online searches, opening a new landscape of possibilities for research and education in the humanities.

In Seconds Before Blast, the Making of a Hero  —  BALAD RUZ, Iraq — As the suicide bomber clutched the detonator to his explosive belt, preparing to spray fire and shrapnel into a religious procession here, an Iraqi police officer named Bilal Ali Muhammad faced a choice between his own life and something larger.

Breaking?  Study Finds Fox News Viewers Are The Most Misinformed  —  To perhaps nobody's surprise, a study released this week finds that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed of any news consumers.  —  The University of Maryland study, called “Misinformation and the 2010 Election,” …

Tax Cut Bill Moves to the President  —  Just to mop this up, last night around midnight, the House of Representatives gave final passage to the tax cut bill.  The final roll call vote on the “Airport and Airway Extension Act,” the name of the shell bill used as a vehicle to move the legislation, was 277-148.

Columbia U. vs. the little guy  —  Tweet  —  We often hear politicians and pundits denounce property rights.  Property rights, we're told, protect the fat cats against the needs of the public.  They're a tool for keeping the little guy down.  —  Like a lot of what we hear from politicians and pundits …

Muslim ‘Radicalization’ Is Focus of Planned Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON — The Republican who will head the House committee that oversees domestic security is planning to open a Congressional inquiry into what he calls “the radicalization” of the Muslim community when his party takes over the House next year.

Boxes found — and mystery solved at Emanuel's home  —  The mayoral-race mystery of where candidate Rahm Emanuel stored boxes of personal items has been solved.  —  Attorneys for Emanuel visited the house he owns in Ravenswood at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, located the much-discussed “crawl space …

Hollywood's Growing Chorus of Obama Criticism  —  Hollywood's adoration for President Obama has never really been all that shocking, but what may be surprising is how famous singers and actors are increasingly saying they aren't so happy with the commander-in-chief.

NOW goes after Hooters for catering to kids  —  (12-16) 17:51 PST SAN FRANCISCO — The National Organization for Women filed complaints against local Hooters restaurants Thursday, but not for exploiting its scantily clad waitresses by subjecting them to leering and groping customers.

Wall Street Whitewash  —  When the financial crisis struck, many people — myself included — considered it a teachable moment.  Above all, we expected the crisis to remind everyone why banks need to be effectively regulated.  —  How naïve we were.  We should have realized …

How Would President Romney Govern?  —  “Sincerity is everything - once you can fake that, you've got it made.”  —  There's Mitt Romney's problem in 1 sentence.  He cannot fake sincerity.  His insincerity is blatant, inescapable, clumsy and off-putting.  Ross Douthat phrased the indictment …

Tax and Spend  —  I'm a tax enthusiast, in part thanks to the work of Lane Kenworthy.  But taxes are unpopular.  So unpopular, in fact, that a combination of political opportunism and psychic revulsion from advocating for tax hikes leads progressives to spend a lot of time dreaming up ways …