Marco Rubio's compelling family story embellishes facts, documents show  —  During his rise to political prominence, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) frequently repeated a compelling version of his family's history that had special resonance in South Florida.  He was the son of exiles, he told audiences …

Qaddafi Is Dead, Libyan Officials Say  —  TRIPOLI, Libya — Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the former Libyan strongman who fled into hiding after rebels toppled his regime two months ago in the Arab Spring's most tumultuous uprising, was killed Thursday as fighters battling the vestiges …

Steve Jobs Biography Reveals He Told Obama, 'You're Headed For A One-Term Presidency' … In one of the most hotly-anticipated biographies of the year, “Steve Jobs,” author Walter Isaacson reveals that the Apple CEO offered to design political ads for President Obama's 2012 campaign despite …

Iowa: Cain 28% Romney 21% Paul 10%  —  Reflecting national trends, businessman Herman Cain has now jumped to the front of the Republican pack in Iowa.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Iowa caucus-goers shows that Cain is in front with 28% followed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 21%.

Occupy Wall Street Gets Pyongyang's Backing … You could see this one coming.  —  North Korea's state news agency weighed in on the Occupy Wall Street protests Thursday, highlighting the “stern judgment” of “millions of people” against a capitalist system that “brings exploitation …

Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland  —  Vice president Joe Biden, left, and Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive announces that the company will produce plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the former General Motors Boxwood Plant, Oct. 27, 2009, in Wilmington, Del. (Rob Carr/AP Photo)

When Condi Met Gaddafi  —  In an exclusive excerpt from Condoleezza Rice's new memoir, ‘No Higher Honor,’ the former secretary of state tells all about her meeting with the recently killed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi: his obsession with her, his WMD stockpile—and the infamous ‘tent.’

Announcing Retirement, Dem Congressman Bashes Obama  —  Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., announced his retirement from Congress this afternoon — and he issued a scathing parting shot at President Obama's track record on his way out.  —  In a statement explaining his decision, Cardoza …

First look at US pay data, it's awful  —  Anyone who wants to understand the enduring nature of Occupy Wall Street and similar protests across the country need only look at the first official data on 2010 paychecks, which the U.S. government posted on the Internet on Wednesday.

The art of the cheap shot  —  It's hard to dispute that Rick Perry's he-hired-an-illegal-immigrant attack on Mitt Romney was a cheap shot.  —  It's even harder to dispute that it worked beautifully.  —  Put aside the fact that Perry's broadside was recycled, and barely relevant to the debate.

Melody Barnes leaving White House  —  Melody Barnes, President Barack Obama's domestic policy adviser, will leave the White House at the end of the year to spend more time with family and consider opportunities in the private sector, senior administration officials told POLITICO on Thursday.

Angry Manhattan residents lambast Zuccotti Park protesters  —  Infuriated lower Manhattan residents went ballistic on Zuccotti Park protesters at a chaotic Community Board 1 meeting tonight while blasting politicians for allowing the siege to continue without any end in sight.

Perry Campaign Chartered a Plane Used in Drug-Smuggling Ring  —  The campaign of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, which said Wednesday it had underpaid wealthy donors for use of their private jets, has another ticklish plane problem. … For a campaign swing that started late last month …

Well, Good for WDAV  —  According to this update just now, the classical music public radio station WDAV, in North Carolina, will not dismiss Lisa Simeone from her role as a freelance (ie, non-employee) host of an opera (ie, non-political) program carried by NPR, just because she has also been a spokesperson for the Occupy DC movement.

FBI investigating assassination threat against Rep. Schilling  —  The FBI and Capitol Police are investigating an online threat made against Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) offering a $75,000 reward for his assassination.  —  Schilling learned of the threat in an email alert Tuesday night, according to his spokeswoman, Andrea Pivarunas.

A Tale Of Two Presidents  —  A reader writes: … And this time, the Arab world loves us as well.  —  To rid the world of Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki and Moammar Qaddafi within six months: if Obama were a Republican, he'd be on Mount Rushmore by now.

Mapping the FBI: Uncovering Abusive Surveillance and Racial Profiling  —  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is collecting racial and ethnic information and “mapping” American communities around the country based on crude stereotypes about which groups commit different types of crimes.

How the Austerity Class Rules Washington  —  This article appeared in the November 7, 2011 edition of The Nation.  —  Recommended by  —  In September the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a bipartisan deficit-hawk group based at the New America Foundation …

Cain Claims 999 Has A Secret Fix To Help The Poor: 'I Just Haven't Told The Public Or My Opponents About It Yet'  —  ThinkProgress filed this report from the Western Republican Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  —  The centerpiece of Herman Cain's economic agenda, the 999 Plan …

What If We Paid Off The Debt?  The Secret Government Report  —  Planet Money has obtained a secret government report outlining what once looked like a potential crisis: The possibility that the U.S. government might pay off its entire debt.  —  It sounds ridiculous today.

Understanding the Second Great Contraction: An interview with Kenneth Rogoff  —  The economist and coauthor of This Time Is Different explains what history can teach us about the global downturn and why climbing out of it is still rife with risks.  —  Continued economic stagnation in Europe …

Illegal Immigration and the Left  —  Ryan Bonneville writes that there's really nothing Barack Obama can do to placate the right-wing illegal immigration crowd.  No matter what he does, it will never be enough.  Then this: … Well, the reason I don't have a big problem …

Oh, This Is Good  —  So, we've been doing the Carter-Obama theme for quite a while here.  But we've been completely trumped with this video.

Obama's numbers down even in Hawaii  —  Barack Obama doesn't need to worry about winning Hawaii next year.  He's more popular there than anywhere else in the country and he has huge leads over all of his potential Republican opponents.  But even his native state shows the difficulties Obama's facing right …