Strict Obstructionist  —  Mitch McConnell is a master manipulator and strategist— the unheralded architect of the Republican resurgence.  Now that his relentless tactics have made his party victorious, he is poised to take down the president and win the Senate majority he covets …

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.

Incoming House GOP chairmen have a long list of issues to investigate  —  House Republican leaders announced plans Monday for congressional investigations into a wide range of issues, from corruption in Afghanistan to Washington's regulation of private industries, using the power of their new majority …

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.

Think Again: American Decline  —  This time it's for real.  —  “We've Heard All This About American Decline Before.”  —  This time it's different.  —  It's certainly true that America has been through cycles of declinism in the past.  Campaigning for the presidency in 1960 …

Vulture in Saudi Custody Suspected as Mossad Agent  —  Follow Israel news on and .  —  Saudi Arabian security forces have captured a vulture that was carrying a global positioning satellite (GPS) transmitter and a ring etched with the words “Tel Aviv University.”

Obama May Bypass Guantánamo Rules, Aides Say  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's legal advisers, confronting the prospect of new restrictions on the transfer of Guantánamo detainees, are debating whether to recommend that he issue a signing statement asserting that his executive powers …

Ohio Ruling: No Substitution of Foreclosure Documents in Robo-Signing Cases  —  Thanks to an obscure ruling from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, mortgage lenders in the Cleveland, Ohio area trying to substitute new documents for ones found to be faulty will have 30 days to explain …

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.

Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions  —  Faced with growing budget deficits and restive taxpayers, elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions, particularly those representing government workers, in collective bargaining and politics.

Are recent snows from global warming?  —  By David Appell  —  Can we talk about global warming?  —  Scientists already know that man is behind it.  They have known it for decades.  'Nough said.  —  But that hardly means that every little bit of weather can be blamed on it.Sometimes, it is just cold.

Top Five Things Obama Has Done to Raise Gasoline Prices  —  With gasoline currently above $3 per gallon nationwide and economists expecting that price to rise even further in 2011, America should be getting serious about producing more of its own resources.  But instead of focusing on how to bring …

Chilling photo captures Philippines politician's killer moments before he is shot dead  —  A politician in the Philippines who was shot dead while taking a photograph of his family on New Year's Day captured his killer on camera just seconds before the assassin fired the fatal shots.

Insurers Sued Over Death Bets  —  Scrutiny on Secondary-Market Policies That Paid Investors When Others Died  —  New investor lawsuits are emerging amid the wreckage of an investment boom in life-insurance policies that spectacularly collapsed.  —  The suits involve the secondary market in life policies …

Nine incoming House Democrats assume place in pecking order: the end  —  They call themselves “the Mighty Nine.”  —  Which is half true - there are, in fact, nine of them.  —  But “mighty” is definitely the wrong word for the nine lonely Democrats who will be sworn in as House members on Wednesday.

Obama and Air Force One: It's good to have a 747  —  President Obama will spend Monday night flying across the Pacific and United States after his latest vacation, 11 days in Hawaii.  It will be his first trip of 2011 aboard Air Force One.  —  Last year Obama flew in Air Force One 172 times, almost every other day.

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.

2012 Hopefuls to Celebrate Reagan Centennial  —  The Illinois Republican Party hopes to host an all-star lineup of potential GOP presidential contenders at a dinner celebrating President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday next month.  —  The fundraising event will be held in Chicago on Feb. 5, the day before the late president's birthday.