Palin takes hit from the right for picking food fight with Michelle Obama  —  Sarah Palin has come under fire from the right for her attacks on the first lady's anti-obesity campaign.  —  The conservative opinion page of The Wall Street Journal, which frequently criticizes the White House …

Obama weighs in on Michael Vick, and other cultural issues  —  HONOLULU - President Obama doesn't seem to shy away from the divisive social and cultural topics that Americans are debating in their living rooms, gyms and workplaces.  —  He has spoken out about the responsibility of fathers …

Obama and Income Inequality: No New Brazils!  —  We're going to be hearing a lot about income inequality over the next few years.  It may be an abstract concept, but it gets hits like Sarah Palin and attracts grant money like Cory Booker.  Tim Noah's series on the subject was (rightly) so popular he got a book contract out of it.

The merger of journalists and government officials  —  The video of the CNN debate I did last night about WikiLeaks with former Bush Homeland Security Adviser (and CNN contributor) Fran Townsend and CNN anchor Jessica Yellin is posted below.  The way it proceeded was quite instructive …

Lawmakers Finance Pet Projects Without Earmarks  —  WASHINGTON — No one was more critical than Representative Mark Steven Kirk when President Obama and the Democratic majority in the Congress sought passage last year of a $787 billion spending bill intended to stimulate the economy.

London is home to Hamas hub, says Israel  —  JERUSALEM — Israel's defence ministry has accused a London-based Palestinian centre of “terror-affiliated activities” and being the organisational arm of the militant Islamic Hamas movement in Europe.  —  Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip …

GAO Sees Problems in Government's Financial Management  —  Like what you see?  Click here to sign up for Accounting Today's daily newsletter to get the latest news and behind the scenes commentary you won't find anywhere else.  —  “Even though significant progress has been made since …

Top Gear stars cause religious row after dressing up in burkas on Boxing Day special  —  Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear co-stars have sparked religious outrage after dressing up in burkas on the Boxing Day special.  —  Clarkson and Richard Hammond decided to dress in niqabs …

Optimism for Obama Should Come With Caution  —  For as poorly as President Obama's Democrats performed on Nov. 2, you can find several assessments of his re-election chances that seem doggone optimistic.  —  The Washington Examiner's Michael Barone, in a careful analysis, suggests that Mr. Obama won't be easy to defeat.

Tea Party Organizer Jumps Into Va. Senate Race  —  The 2012 Senate campaign has its first tea party candidate.  —  Jamie Radtke, head of the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots, has filed federal papers to run for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat now held by Virginia Democrat James Webb.

N.J. senator criticizes Gov. Christie, Lt. Gov. Guadagno for being out of state during blizzard  —  TRENTON — A Democratic lawmaker is questioning why both Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno are out of state at the same time, leaving Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) …

Iraq Wants the U.S. Out  —  Prime Minister, in Interview, Says Troops Must Leave Next Year as Planned  —  BAGHDAD—Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ruled out the presence of any U.S. troops in Iraq after the end of 2011, saying his new government and the country's security forces were capable …

GOP Turns To K Street Veterans To Help Unravel Health Care Law  —  House Republicans are turning to old friends on K Street to lead their legislative attempts to repeal the new health care law.  —  Three recently hired Republican aides — two set to work in senior positions on the powerful Energy …

Tests of ‘Roe’ more frequent since justices upheld late-term abortion ban in '07  —  LINCOLN, NEB. - Mike Flood, the 35-year-old speaker of Nebraska's legislature, had a problem: He wanted to stop the state's well-known abortion provider from offering late-term abortions.

Group Opposed To DADT Repeal To Fight On Against Shower Policy  —  Since 1993, the Center for Military Readiness has been fighting to keep gay men and lesbians from infiltrating the United States military.  So now that “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” has been repealed, what's next for the group …

National Film Registry Adds 25 Films  —  National Film Registry Chooses 25 Films for 2010 Additions  —  It's official.  When, in hundreds of years, the future of humanity scours the U.S. Library of Congress for clues as to how primitively we lived back in the early 21st century …

The Data and the Reality  —  I keep hearing from the data zealots that holiday sales were impressive and the outlook for the economy in 2011 is not bad.  —  Maybe they've stumbled onto something in their windowless rooms.  Maybe the economy really is gathering steam.

The Median Voter Supports The Affordable Care Act  —  We've seen this before, but today CNN has another poll (PDF) confirming that the Affordable Care Act's conservative critics are a minority:  —  I'm not 100 percent sure if “not liberal enough” is the way I would describe the law.

Greene returns to politics  —  Surprise U.S. Senate primary winner enters S.C. House race  —  Former Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene is running for office again, this time an open S.C. House seat in Clarendon County.  —  Greene, an unemployed U.S. Army veteran …

Social Security reform is the answer to Obama's problems - and the nation's  —  The main achievements of the lame-duck session of Congress were reminders of what might have been.  President Obama gave something to get something.  To secure a second stimulus, he accepted Republican economic methods.

Obama's Budget Delayed a Week  —  WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's budget proposal for fiscal 2012 will be released in mid-February, a little more than a week after its planned release date.  The administration is scrambling to assemble what could be a pivotal document following …