Ben Nelson retiring from Senate  —  Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska will announce today that he is retiring after two terms, a serious blow to Democratic efforts to hold onto their majority in the chamber next November.  —  Nelson is scheduled to hold a press conference back home …

Gingrich '06 Memo: “Agree Entirely With Gov. Romney” on Health Care  —  To conservatives, the biggest strike against Mitt Romney is the health care plan he put in place in Massachusetts, but Newt Gingrich lavished praise on Romney's plan after it was passed in 2006.

How Can Romney Lose?  —  The conventional wisdom on the Republican nomination race has once again shifted.  In the span of just two weeks, Mitt Romney has gone from seeming quite vulnerable to the near-inevitable Republican nominee.  The odds attributed to Mr. Romney winning the nomination …

7 Reasons Why Mitt Romney's Electability Is A Myth  —  Mitt Romney was a moderate governor in Massachusetts with an unimpressive record of governance, who left office with an approval rating in the thirties, and whose signature achievement was a Hurricane Katrina style disaster for the state.

Gingrich will make half of the number of Iowa stops announced last week  —  Newt Gingrich's new Iowa tour has officially started but with greatly slimmed expectations.  —  Gingrich's press bus  The “Iowa Jobs and Prosperity Bus Tour” will make 22 stops between now and the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official  —  (Reuters) - The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government's debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior Treasury Department official on Tuesday.

FACT CHECK: Ron Paul Personally Defended Racist Newsletters  —  Recently, Ron Paul has been subject to intense criticism over controversial newsletters written under his name in the 80s and 90s that frequently included racism, bigotry, and conspiracy theories.

Moving melee causes chaos at packed Mall of America  —  Some stores shut down Monday night as panicked shoppers fled.  At least 10 youths were arrested.  —  A noisy, racing crowd of more than 200 young people created a chaotic scene at the packed Mall of America Monday evening …

Caught On Tape: Clerk Punches, Knocks Out Armed Robber  —  Clerk Then Makes Suspect Clean Up His Own Blood  —  HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — A clerk at a business in Western North Carolina punched a would-be robber and knocked him out cold just minutes after the man barged in with a gun and demanded money.

What Obama didn't say on ‘60 Minutes’  —  President Obama appeared on “60 Minutes” a couple of weeks ago, and as is always the case with longer interviews, some of the exchanges between him and Steve Kroft ended up on the editing-room floor.  CBS went ahead and posted everything online …

Growing wealth widens distance between lawmakers and constituents  —  BUTLER, Pa. — One day after his shift at the steel mill, Gary Myers drove home in his 10-year-old Pontiac and told his wife he was going to run for Congress.  —  The odds were long.  At 34, Myers was the shift foreman at the “hot mill” of the Armco plant here.

Greeks Reeling From Health Care Cutbacks  —  PERAMA, Greece — The free clinic here opened about a year ago to serve illegal immigrants.  But these days, it is mostly caring for Greeks like Vassiliki Ragamb, who was sitting in the waiting room hoping to get insulin for her young diabetic son.