Senate Dems warn Boehner: Don't bother with healthcare repeal  —  The 112th Congress doesn't begin until Wednesday, but Senate Democrats are already vowing to block any attempts by the new GOP-led House to repeal the healthcare reform law.  —  The Senate's top Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid …

Obama Said to Consider William Daley for Top White House Post  —  President Barack Obama is considering naming William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former U.S. Commerce secretary, to a high-level White House post, possibly as his chief of staff, people familiar with the matter said.

Scalia: Women Don't Have Constitutional Protection Against Discrimination  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not protect against discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation, according to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

There's One Huge State Budget Crisis That Everyone Is Refusing To Talk About  —  You know the story and you know the names: states like Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and California are supposed to be in huge financial trouble thanks to bloated governments, business-unfriendly regulations, and strong public sector unions.

Cops: Former Bush Aide Murdered, Found in Landfill  —  A man who fought to get the Vietnam Veterans Memorial built and served in two Bush administrations was murdered, Delaware police say.  —  John P. Wheeler III, 66, was found dead in a Delaware landfill, and his death has been ruled a homicide by Newark, Del., police.

Administration Prepares to Defy Efforts to Limit Obama's Options for Guantanamo  —  Update (4:25 p.m.): This story has been updated to reflect our latest reporting with the addition of a third sentence in the second paragraph.  —  Obama administration officials say they plan …

National Debt Tops $14 Trillion  —  The latest posting today of the National Debt shows it has topped $14 trillion for the first time.  —  The U.S. Treasury website today reported that as of last Friday, the last day of 2010, the National Debt stood at $14,025,215,218,708.52.

Women or Wine?  Monogamy and Alcohol  —  The headline is the title of an intriguing new working paper [PDF] by two University of Leuven economists Mara Squicciarini and Jo Swinnen.  The two note an interesting correlation between societies that practice monogamy and those that drink alcohol.

Allen West Says New Congress Should Prioritize Threat Of ‘Infiltration Of The Sharia Practice’ In U.S.  —  Rep. Allen West (R-FL), a newly-elected member who has loudly scapegoated Muslims and campaigned on a promise to oppose religious diversity, appeared on Frank Gaffney's radio program last week.

John Roberts To Join Fox News Channel  —  Former CNN “American Morning” anchor John Roberts is expected to join FOX News Channel as a senior national correspondent, based in Atlanta.  —  He will be reporting on major domestic and international stories for the network.  —  Update: FNC has made it official.

WHAT RNC LEADERS READ.... The five main candidates vying for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee met today for a debate, which by most accounts, was of greater interest to political reporters than RNC members.  One of the lighter moments, however, was arguably the most interesting.

Dems playing rough on health reform?  —  More signs Dems are going to get aggressive in the battle with the GOP over the repeal of health reform.  —  In an interview with me just now, Dem Rep. Anthony Weiner, who is one of the best there is at framing liberal arguments in pugnacious terms …

Ahmadinejad Was Slapped by General, Leaked Cable Says  —  Last January, as Iran's leadership struggled to contain postelection protests, nerves frayed to such an extent that the country's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was slapped in the face by a military commander at one contentious meeting …

Some thoughts — and graphs — on inequality and income  —  I've been spending some time thinking about income inequality for a piece I'm writing.  As part of it, I made this graph comparing trends in inequality — as measured by the share of pre-tax income that goes to the top 1 percent …

Pence for President  —  If confession is good for the soul, let me pour out my soul for you.  As I stood at the beginning of 2008, I find myself in the same position here as we now begin the very real discussions of who should be the candidate for the GOP in 2012.

The Unborn Paradox  —  The American entertainment industry has never been comfortable with the act of abortion.  Film or television characters might consider the procedure, but even on the most libertine programs (a “Mad Men,” a “Sex and the City"), they're more likely to have a change of heart than actually go through with it.

Snort: Now the Dems are worried about wasteful “witch hunts”  —  After decades of indulgent public floggings and ideological fishing expeditions led by chief congressional inquisitor Henry Waxman (see here here here here for starters), Democrats are suddenly worried about abuse of investigative powers.