Michele Bachmann Becomes Fifth GOP Candidate To Reject Donald Trump Debate  —  ABC News' Michael Falcone reports:  —  DES MOINES — Another one bites the dust.  —  Michele Bachmann has officially said “no” to the Donald Trump-moderated Newsmax debate scheduled for later this month.

Obama: More jobs in jobless benefits than Keystone  —  President Obama said that he will delay his vacation and keep Congress in session until the passage of his desired payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits extension — two proposals that Obama said would create more jobs …

Perry's jacket in anti-gay ad?  Heath Ledger wore it in “Brokeback Mountain”  —  Rick Perry launched an anti-gay ad called, “Strong.”  In the ad, he attacks gays openly serving in the armed forces.  —  As it turns out, the gays get their revenge... the jacket Rick Perry wore in the ad?

Iran shows film of captured US drone  —  The BBC's James Reynolds says the video appears to support Iran's claims  —  Iranian TV has shown the first video footage of an advanced US drone aircraft that Tehran says it downed near the Afghan border.  —  Images show Iranian military officials inspecting …

A Liberal's Lament on Kagan and Health Care  —  Should Elena Kagan recuse herself in the ACA case?  —  Elena Kagan was appointed by Obama from within his administration shortly after health care reform passed.  Should she hear the case before the Supreme Court?

Tweets from Congressional Staffers Describe On-Job Drinking in Office of Congressman Larsen  —  For young men and women with ambitions toward a career in politics, working in a Congressional office can be a heady, almost dreamlike experience.  Left unsupervised, the combination of youth indiscretion …

GOP seeks to cut unemployment benefits  —  GOP leaders hope to build momentum for an end-of-year tax package with sweeping reforms to federal unemployment benefits.  —  The Republican proposal is expected to reduce the total number of weeks unemployed workers are eligible for aid …

Next step in our Randian dystopia: stimgatize the unemployed  —  So now they're going to “reform” unemployment.  The first thing they say they'll do do is stop the millionaires from collecting it.  I don't know how many millionaires are collecting it now or how this will be administered, but fine.

Google Currents is hot off the press  —  We strive to give you beautiful and simple ways to experience all the content the web has to offer, such as sharing photos on Google+, watching YouTube videos and discovering books, movies and music from Android Market.

N.Y.U. to Offer Classes on Occupy Wall Street … Occupy Wall Street is becoming a teachable moment for New York City college students.  —  New York University plans to offer two classes next semester on the protest movement, whose participants frequently marched and rallied around the school's Greenwich Village campus this fall.

Record High Anti-Incumbent Sentiment Toward Congress  —  But voters are more inclined to say their own representative deserves re-election  —  PRINCETON, NJ — About three-quarters of registered voters (76%) say most members of Congress do not deserve re-election, the highest such percentage Gallup …

Obama celebrates Hanukkah at White House  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is marking Hanukkah as a story of “faith over doubt.”  —  Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden convened a Hanukkah celebration at the White House Thursday in an early celebration of the Jewish Festival of Lights.

All the G.O.P.'s Gekkos  —  Almost a quarter of a century has passed since the release of the movie “Wall Street,” and the film seems more relevant than ever.  The self-righteous screeds of financial tycoons denouncing President Obama all read like variations on Gordon Gekko's famous …

Lines Redrawn, Longtime Allies Fight for a Seat  —  LOS ANGELES — Democrat-on-Democrat warfare has returned to the San Fernando Valley.  —  After a tiff over the redrawing of their adjacent Congressional districts a decade ago, Representative Brad Sherman and his fellow California Democrat …

Meet Josh Block: Lobbyist For Foreign Human Rights Abuser  —  A Politico article yesterday on CAP's Middle East posture cited Josh Block, who described CAP's bloggers as writing “borderline anti-Semitic stuff.”  In a leaked email to a right-wing listserv, Block, now senior fellow …

The Coming GOP Gingrich Freakout  —  Today's question is: will the Gingrich balloon deflate like all the previous Not Mitt balloons?  —  The answer is: yes of course-but given that these balloons take typically 6-8 weeks to shrivel, the impending Gingrich bust may not arrive soon enough to save Romney.

Judges Hear Arguments on Prop 8 Trial Video, Judge Vaughn Walker's Same-Sex Relationship  —  Today a 9th Circuit Court panel heard oral arguments on two ancillary issues in the long-running legal battle to decide the fate of Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage …