The GOP's Payroll Tax Fiasco  —  How did Republicans manage to lose the tax issue to Obama?  —  GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell famously said a year ago that his main task in the 112th Congress was to make sure that President Obama would not be re-elected.

Newt Gingrich to gay Iowan: Vote for Obama  —  Gingrich and his wife Callista at tonight's event in Oskaloosa.  Oskaloosa, Ia.  - Newt Gingrich told a gay man and longtime resident of Oskaloosa here today that he should vote for President Obama.  —  “I asked him if he's elected, how does he plan to engage gay Americans.

You, sir, are no Teddy Roosevelt  —  In a speech to be delivered in Bedford, N.H., this evening, Mitt Romney will push back explicitly on Barack Obama's recent invocation of Teddy Roosevelt in a speech the president used to frame the 2012 campaign in terms of “fairness.”  Here's what Romney will say:

Exclusive: North Korea's military to share power with Kim's heir  —  (Reuters) - North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

ISU/Gazette/KCRG Poll: Ron Paul new frontrunner  —  CEDAR RAPIDS — Just two weeks before Iowa's first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses there's a new leader, but the race remains “remarkably fluid,” according to a new Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG poll of likely Republican caucusgoers.

Obama's Hawaii Christmas dilemma  —  President Obama faces a most difficult decision with the payroll tax extension up in the air, and it isn't whether to compromise with Republicans.  —  The toughest call for the president this holiday season could be whether to join his family for Christmas in Hawaii or stay in lonely Washington.

The Most Important Graphs of 2011  —  What is it about graphs and economics?  In a discipline where facts are murky and certainty is elusive, graphs offer a bright light of information and a small confidence that the world can be summed up between two axes.

Chevy Volt Costing Taxpayers Up to $250K Per Vehicle  —  Analyst: ‘This might be the most government-supported car since the Trabant’  —  Each Chevy Volt sold thus far may have as much as $250,000 in state and federal dollars in incentives behind it - a total of $3 billion altogether …

Obama's Rising Poll Numbers: The Dog-That-Didn't-Bark Factor  —  As Steve noted yesterday there are plenty of reasons why, going into the Christmas break, Barack Obama is looking surprisingly strong politically.  The economy is slowly improving.  The troops are out of Iraq.

I knew Christopher Hitchens better than you  —  Every writer who had a drink with Hitch has now told his story.  But even Rushdie and Amis didn't know him like this  —  Christopher Hitchens and I were friends for 40 years, plus another five when we were enemies.

Romney features wife, touts ‘character’ in new ad  —  Mitt Romney's new ad features his wife Ann talking about his character — and could be seen as implicitly tweaking Newt Gingrich for his own personal life.  —  “You can never predict what kind of tough decisions are going to come in front …

Iraqi Leader Threatens to Abandon Power-Sharing  —  BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq threatened on Wednesday to abandon an American-backed power sharing government created a year ago, throwing the country's fragile democracy into further turmoil just days after the departure of American troops.