Lawmakers Reach Deal On Temporary Payroll-Tax Cut  —  Senate leaders agreed on compromise legislation Friday night to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for two months while requiring President Barack Obama to accept Republican demands for a swift decision on the fate …

Nikki Haley's Mitt Romney endorsement catches flak  —  GREENVILLE, S.C. - Nikki Haley's attempt to boost Mitt Romney is threatening her own support here at home.  —  Romney's campaign is using the South Carolina governor's endorsement to build his acceptance among the tea party base that's never …

Removing right-wing riders  —  Late Thursday, policymakers struck an agreement on funding the government through September, averting a government shutdown that would have begun last night.  The House easily approved the $1 trillion spending deal yesterday, and the Senate is expected to do the same today.

Gingrich of Freddie Mac  —  The Speaker's defense is hurting him as much as his $1.6 million payday.  —  Newt Gingrich's opponents aren't letting up in their criticism of his lucrative ties to the failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac after he resigned as House Speaker in the late 1990s.

Remarks by the President at the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much.  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  Please, please have a seat.  You're making me blush.  (Laughter.)  Thank you, Eric, for that extraordinary introduction …

When it Comes to Taxes on the Poor, the Supply Siders are Right  —  A couple of days ago, I referred to the fact that poor people face some of the highest marginal tax rates in America.  I received several emails from economics professors, gently correcting me: they face all the highest marginal tax rates in America.

SEC Charges Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger and 12 Others in Scheme to Pump Stock in Sports Drink Company  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  2011-268  —  Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Daniel Ruettiger and 12 other participants in a scheme …

Gingrich Represents New Political Era for Catholics  —  Newt Gingrich sat beneath the soaring dome in the largest Roman Catholic church in North America, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, and listened as a choir that included his wife sang …

Dem congressman: We 'didn't know what the hell was going on' when we passed Obama stimulus [VIDEO]  —  California Democratic Congressman Mike Honda, a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committees, told The Daily Caller that Democrats in Congress passed the $825 billion Recovery Act because they …

It is finally being recognized that the eurozone made a major policy breakthrough … Here is the story, and you will recall my earlier post here.  Karl Smith asks how this fits in with the treatment of collateral, and here is also a more skeptical take on the arbitrage.

Let's Face it: It's the Radical Right, not Islam, that is the Greatest Threat to the American Way  —  Imagine if a major American advertiser were to pull its ads off of Jersey Shore because they received objections that the show while portraying a group of Italian-Americans, made the glaring error of excluding Mafiosi.

Scott Walker's Next Target: Cancer Screenings for Women  —  In Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood foes go after a program to provide women with free cancer screenings.  —  First he gutted worker's rights, then slashed state education funding and dumbed-down sex ed. Next on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's hit list?

Gray Matter: Economists Are Grinches  —  THE stereotypes about economists are well known: that we're selfish Grinches; that we don't read human interest stories because they don't interest us; that the only reason we don't sell our children is that we think they'll be worth more later.