Gingrich meets with Trump Monday—Club for Growth hits Thompson—Romney gets 29 Missouri endorsements—Cain talking to wife Friday—Cuccinelli running for governor—Gingrich opens an Iowa office  —  EXCLUSIVE - GINGRICH TREKS TO TRUMP TOWER MONDAY: Donald Trump is scheduled to host Newt Gingrich at Trump Tower next Monday.

How Republicans are being taught to talk about Occupy Wall Street  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — The Republican Governor's Association met this week in Florida to give GOP state executives a chance to rejuvenate, strategize and team-build.  But during a plenary session on Wednesday, one question kept coming up …

A Banker Speaks, With Regret  —  If you want to understand why the Occupy movement has found such traction, it helps to listen to a former banker like James Theckston.  He fully acknowledges that he and other bankers are mostly responsible for the country's housing mess.

Islamists Claim Egypt's Mandate in Early Voting  —  CAIRO — Islamists claimed a decisive victory on Wednesday as early election results put them on track to win a dominant majority in Egypt's first Parliament since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the most significant step yet …

US Embassy in Iran?  Michele Bachmann's ‘Oops’ Moment  —  ABC News' Molly Hunter reports:  —  Did Michelle Bachmann have her “oops” moment?  —  In light of the British Foreign Ministry pulling all U.K. nationals out of the British embassy in Tehran after students stormed the building in protest …

China's Superior Economic Model  —  The free-market fundamentalist economic model is being thrown onto the trash heap of history.  —  Andy Grove, the founder and chairman of Intel, provocatively wrote in Businessweek last year that, “Our fundamental economic beliefs, which we have elevated …

Shockingly, Morning Joe Transcript Actually Worth Five Minutes of Your Time  —  But only five minutes.  —  Down on Obama, and that includes the liberals, who are beginning to get as distracted and depressed as he is, over the burden of having to spin his failures.  —  Video at the link, but here's some good parts.

President Obama goes on fundraising blitz through Manhattan  —  Occupy Wall Street protesters protest president as ‘corporate puppet’  —  President Obama arrives at Kennedy Airport for a fundraising trip through New York City Wednesday.  —  President Obama went on a buckraking blitz through …

Occupy L.A.: 30 tons of debris left behind at City Hall tent city  —  Sanitation officials said Wednesday that they expect to haul away 30 tons of debris from the Occupy L.A. encampment — everything from clothing to heaps of garbage to oddball curiosities left behind by the protesters …

Cheapest Primary in a Decade Defies Campaign Spending Prediction  —  Even as experts predict that the 2012 presidential race will be the most expensive in U.S. history, a funny thing is happening on the way to the Republican nomination: It's becoming one of the cheapest primaries in a more than a decade.

Bachmann Campaign In Hot Water Over Stolen Homeschooler Email List  —  The Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) has sent out an email to its members that says Michele Bachmann's campaign uploaded the group's email list into their campaign database without permission.

Pawlenty Explains his Campaign-Ending “Obamneycare” Whiff … - Gingrich Is the Only Candidate Who Talks About How He'd Govern the Country.  Good for Him.  - The Senate's Gruesome Decision To Allow the Military To Detain Citizens Without a Trial Forever - The Artist Is Slight …

Barack Obama and blue-collar Pennsylvania voters : Take 2  —  SCRANTON, Pa. — They were never a natural fit.  —  President Barack Obama lost white working-class voters in this Rust Belt state during the 2008 Democratic primary, after describing them as bitter people who “cling” to God and guns.

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  —  In response to this letter, written by former general partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and current Investment Fund Manager at Omega Advisors …

Google rips Senate's online piracy bill: ‘This is what is wrong with Washington’  —  Google is exhorting senators to oppose an online piracy bill, arguing it would threaten national security, shackle the Internet with regulations and imperil free speech, according to a document obtained by The Hill.

Michele Bachmann debates same-sex rights with high-school students in Waverly  —  Waverly, Ia.  - Amidst a breezy appearance before an enthusiastic crowd at pizza restaurant here, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann debated two high school students over whether civil rights included the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Cuccinelli will announce governor's run within days, GOP sources say  —  RICHMOND — Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) will reveal his plans next week to run for governor in 2013, according to well-placed Republican sources.  —  Cuccinelli, a tea party hero who garnered national attention …

Warning over incomes as Britain goes on strike  —  Families with children will be worse off in 2016 than 14 years earlier, analysis of George Osborne's autumn statement finds  —  High inflation, cuts and the longest period of wage stagnation on record will see the spending power …

Richardson Feels New Heat  —  Grand Jury Looks at Whether Former Governor Arranged Payments to Woman  —  A federal grand jury is investigating former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson over possible campaign-finance violations stemming from his 2008 presidential run, including allegations …

John Hinckley ‘flawed’ but ‘fundamentally decent,’ his attorney tells judge  —  John W. Hinckley Jr. should be granted more freedom from a psychiatric hospital so he can ultimately be released to live with his mother in Williamsburg, an attorney for the presidential assailant told a judge.

Schumer: Democrats can gain Senate seats in 2012 election  —  Sen. Charles Schumer says the political landscape has shifted dramatically from the 2010 election and predicts that Senate Democrats will hold their majority and might even expand it next year.  —  In an interview with The Hill …

Partisan dustup over EPA's reach  —  The House Energy and Commerce Committee operated on the Clean Air Act on Wednesday, passing legislation that would cut into the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate particulate matter in numerous situations.  —  “We don't trust EPA.