Democrats concede budget fight to Republicans  —  Senate Democrats abruptly abandoned an omnibus budget bill for the coming year, pushing major spending decisions into the next Congress and giving Republicans immense new leverage to confront President Barack Obama priorities.

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” …

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.

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 …

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.

Flirty Models Were Hired in Bid to Find Bone Marrow  —  BOSTON — On its face, it seemed reasonable enough: a bone marrow registry sending recruiters to malls, ballparks and other busy sites to enlist potential donors.  —  But the recruiters were actually flirtatious models in heels …

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 …

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.

Meeks says minority contracts should only go to blacks  —  Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African-Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

With a star-studded guest list, ‘Larry King Live’ signs off for the last time  —  Lurching awkwardly between classy gestures and underwhelming torpor, “Larry King Live” breathed its last on CNN Thursday night, even if its star and founding father kept reminding viewers that though his program was ending …

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 …

Bigger Is Easier  —  President Obama faces an enormously difficult challenge over the next few weeks.  —  On the one hand, this moment is ripe for fundamental change.  There is a pervasive sense that the nation is at a Sputnik moment when it either rises to face the international competition or it does not.

Olbermann Refuses To Correct Treatment Of Assange Rape Allegations On Twitter - Update  —  Update: Keith Olbermann has announced that he is suspending his Twitter account “until this frenzy is stopped.”  —  Update 2: This is serious.  He has even taken down his profile picture.