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.

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 …

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 …

Santorum says he'll exit presidential race if he does poorly in Iowa caucuses  —  Rick Santorum said if he finished badly in Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses, he would drop out of the presidential race.  —  “If I finish dead last in the mix I'll go home but I don't think that's going to happen,” …

Ron Paul camp fires back at ex-aide over column on Israel, gays  —  The Ron Paul camp is dismissing a scathing personal account published Monday by former longtime Paul aide Eric Dondero, who paints the Texas congressman as “intolerant” of Spanish speakers, anti-Israel and anti-Israeli …

Obama to Name Two Fed Board Nominees  —  President Barack Obama will announce Tuesday that he plans to nominate a Harvard University finance professor and a former private-equity executive to fill the two vacancies on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board, a White House official said.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

Predictions gone wrong  —  Dave Weigel had a good item yesterday on his “2011 Pundit Audit.”  It's a worthwhile idea, so I thought I'd join the fun. … Weigel points to four flubs: the assumption that Rick Perry would be a competent candidate; the belief that Perry's book and agenda …

Republicans With Shotguns  —  You know you're in Iowa when the big story of the day is how many pheasants the candidate killed: … Read the whole thing at the American Spectator.  —  While King didn't give Santorum his endorsement, yesterday's hunting trip and press conference garnered the candidate a huge haul of publicity.