Rudy gearing up for DC run  —  Confident that he'd have a chance to win, Rudy Giuliani is rounding up his top political advisers for a possible 2012 presidential run, sources tell Page Six.  —  Sources say the tough-talking former mayor “thinks the Republican race will be populated …

BREAKING: CBO Says Repealing ObamaCare Would Reduce Net Spending by $540 Billion  —  The Congressional Budget Office, in an email to Capitol Hill staffers obtained by the Spectator, has said that repealing the national health care law would reduce net spending by $540 billion in the ten year period from 2012 through 2021.

Memo to Speaker Boehner: If You Won a Congessional Majority Because You Pledged to Cut Spending and You Can't Think of a Single Program to Cut Now, Please Go Home  —  That Congress botched its first-ever public reading of the Constitution is worrisome, but less so than the fact they've spent …

Obama mouthpiece Robert Gibbs was forced out by new henchman William Daley  —  I wondered yesterday whether Robert Gibbs jumped or was pushed and noted that President Barack Obama's words indicated that it was “not an entirely voluntary departure”.  —  It's being reported by John King …

In U.S., 46% Favor, 40% Oppose Repealing Healthcare Law  —  Three-quarters of Republicans favor repeal; 64% of Democrats oppose it  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans do not strongly endorse the new Republican House majority's efforts to repeal the landmark healthcare legislation passed last year.

EXCLUSIVE: Sonny Bono's Widow - Rep. Mary Bono - In Lurid Photo Scandal With Woman Investigated By FBI  —  Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack has been caught on camera in a lurid scandal where another woman is apparently licking her breast.  —  RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained the photo …

Levi's Vindication: The Self-Exposure Of Sarah Palin  —  As a long-standing Palin hysteric, I have to confess a mite less concern in 2011 than at any time since she has been farcically commanding the attention of the political class.  Not much has changed essentially: Palin's favorable ratings remain roughly where they have been.

Key Numbers In Unemployment Report Not So Good  —  Needless to say, administration supporters will be touting that the unemployment rate released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning dropped from 9.8% to 9.4%.  Politically, this is good news for Obama, at least in the short run.

‘Job-killing’ regulation?  ‘Job-killing’ spending?  Let's kill this GOP canard.  —  Republicans these days can't get through a sentence without tossing in their new favorite adjective, “job-killing.”  —  There's “job-killing legislation,” in particular the health-care reform law.

MA Supreme Court Deals Banks a Major Blow on Foreclosure Fraud, in the Ibanez Case  —  In a major ruling in the Massachusetts Supreme Court today, US Bank and Wells Fargo lost the “Ibanez case,” meaning that they don't have standing to foreclose due to improper mortgage assignment.

White Flight  —  President Obama's path to a second term may rely on states shaped by the same social forces he embodies.  —  Right turn: Sen. Marco Rubio's supporters in Florida included many whites who voted for Obama in 2008.  —  By any standard, white voters' rejection of Democrats …

To House GOP, illegal immigration is a jobs issue  —  With Republicans now in control of the House Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Eric Holder and other Justice Department officials are going to be answering a lot of questions in the next two years.  “We're going to start fast,” …

The Texas Omen  —  These are tough times for state governments.  Huge deficits loom almost everywhere, from California to New York, from New Jersey to Texas.  —  Wait — Texas?  Wasn't Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered?  Didn't its governor declare …

Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as “human shields”  —  Muslims turned up in droves for the Coptic Christmas mass Thursday night, offering their bodies, and lives, as “shields” to Egypt's threatened Christian community  —  Egypt's majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night.

Pence introduces anti-abortion bill ahead of conservative gathering  —  (CNN) - Rep. Mike Pence, the Indiana congressman who is considering a presidential bid, introduced an anti-abortion bill Friday that is certain to be greeted fondly by many Republicans ahead of his attendance …

Bachmann for President?  'I'm Going to Iowa - There's Your Answer'  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Rep. Michele Bachmann confirmed to ABC News today that she's considering a run for president in 2012 — albeit with a non-traditional sense of her own timeline for making a decision.

Investigation into death of Notorious B.I.G. heats up  —  Los Angeles (CNN) — A task force made up of local and federal law enforcement agencies is actively pursuing leads into the 1997 slaying of hip hop artist Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls or Notorious B.I.G. …

Bachmann's Epiphany and My Own ‘Conversion’  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has recently come under a lot of attention, even ridicule, for telling an audience of Michigan Republicans how she “shed her youthful Democratic roots and became a Republican.”  —  Her story: