Mitt Romney on Newt Gingrich: He's the front-runner  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney, who just a month ago had hoped to seal the GOP presidential nomination with Florida's primary on Jan. 31, tells POLITICO that he now foresees an epic fight with Newt Gingrich that could last through the California primary on June 5.

Newt takes no-adultery pledge  —  When the Iowa social conservative group The Family Leader unveiled a sweeping pledge on marriage and abortion over the summer, Newt Gingrich was one of the candidates who passed on signing it.  —  Now, Gingrich has answered the pledge with a lengthy written response …

Barack Obama's ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Has Me Screaming at My TV Again  —  Today on Morning Joe, they were playing clips of Steve Kroft's 60 Minutes interview with President Obama, and I literally started screaming.  There is only so much of this bulls-t I can endure without talking back to my TV:

Depression and Democracy  —  It's time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression.  True, it's not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that's cold comfort.  Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high.  Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited.

Sperm-donor kept wife in the dark  —  A conservative Christian politician has a secret life as a sperm donor for lesbian couples - even though he has campaigned against gay marriage.  —  American politician Bill Johnson has spent most of this year in Christchurch helping run the earthquake recovery …

Iowa audience members yell at Rick Perry after Ames appearance [includes video]  —  Ames, Ia.  - A packed coffee house where Rick Perry spoke this afternoon turned into a bit of a ruckus that left the candidate heading out the back door and straight to his vehicle after several Iowans screamed questions about his views on gays.

I Was Wrong, and So Are You  —  A libertarian economist retracts a swipe at the left—after discovering that our political leanings leave us more biased than we think.  —  BACK IN JUNE 2010, I published a Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing that the American left was unenlightened, by and large, as to economic matters.

Boehner faces toughest leadership test  —  John Boehner's first year as Speaker has been filled with conflict as the Ohio Republican has battled President Obama, Senate Democrats and members of his House majority.  —  This week arguably is Boehner's biggest challenge of 2011 …

Gingrich's Electromagnetic Pulse Warning Has Skeptics  —  Newt Gingrich, the Republican presidential hopeful, wants you to know that as commander in chief he is ready to confront one of the most nightmarish of doomsday scenarios: a nuclear blast high above the United States that would instantly throw the nation into a dark age.

When Truth Survives Free Speech  —  Last week, a story came across my desk that seemed to suggest that a blogger had been unfairly nailed with a $2.5 million defamation award after a judge refused to give her standing as a journalist.  A businessman who was the target of the blogger's inquiries brought the suit.

High court to look at state immigration laws  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to rule on Arizona's controversial law targeting illegal immigrants, setting the stage for an election-year decision on an issue that is already shaping presidential politics.

A Romance With Risk That Brought On a Panic  —  Soon after taking the reins of MF Global in 2010, Jon S. Corzine visited the Wall Street firm's Chicago offices for the first time, greeting the brokers, analysts and sales staff there.  —  One broker, Cy Monley, caught Mr. Corzine's eye.

As Kindle Fire Faces Critics, Remedies Are Promised  —  The Kindle Fire, Amazon's heavily promoted tablet, is less than a blazing success with many of its early users.  The most disgruntled are packing the device up and firing it back to the retailer.  —  A few of their many complaints: there is no external volume control.

Higgs boson: Excitement builds over ‘glimpses’ at LHC  —  The Higgs search is approaching its endgame at Cern  —  Scientists are widely expected to present evidence on Tuesday that the most coveted prize in particle physics - the Higgs boson - has been glimpsed.

The Richest 1% Get $10 Billion A Year From Uncle Sam  —  Each year, the federal government hands approximately $10 billion over to the richest 1% of Americans — mainly to rich retirees — according to an IBD analysis of data on various federal transfer programs.