Rick Santorum's curious closing argument  —  POLK CITY, Iowa — Nothing fires up a crowd like cloture.  —  Rick Santorum, the man who has improbably become a contender in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, was making his closing argument to a sea of TV cameras here on Monday when he swerved into a thicket of Senate trivia.

Gingrich: Mitt Romney is a liar  —  PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose support in Iowa has withered after riding on top of the polls, today called former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney a liar who would lie to the American people if elected to the White House …

Santorum: “ Ron Paul is Disgusting.”  —  “Ron Paul is disgusting,” presidential candidate Rick Santorum said to a handful of FOX reporters shortly after his FOX and Friends interview Tuesday morning.  —  Santorum blamed his rival for Iowa robo calls that claimed that the former U.S. senator …

Obama willing to work with Congress in 2012 on taxes, cutting debt  —  The White House on Tuesday downplayed news reports that President Obama will go it alone with Congress this year.  —  Two senior administration officials said there's work to be done with Congress …

Mitt Romney seeks to end GOP contest in January  —  Mitt Romney is preparing a broad strategy after Iowa's caucuses tonight, apparently hoping to close out the GOP presidential contest before the calendar turns to February.  —  The Post's Phil Rucker reported last night …

Workers of the World, Unite!  —  The Republican Party is the party of the white working class.  This group — whites with high school degrees and maybe some college — is still the largest block in the electorate.  They overwhelmingly favor Republicans.  —  It's a diverse group, obviously …

Young, gay caucus-goers talk politics, support for GOP  —  Several young gay Iowa caucus goers discuss which GOP candidates they will support today.  (Washington Blade photo by Chris Johnson)  —  DES MOINES, Iowa — For some gay Iowa Republicans, the 2012 presidential election is about more than just LGBT issues.

Harry Burkhart, L.A. Arson Fires Suspect From Germany, Says ‘I Hate America’  —  ​The man who terrorized L.A. for three nights with a series of 53 arson fires turned out to be a 24-year-old from Germany identified as Harry Burkhart, at least according to authorities.

Un-American Activities  —  In the tenth paragraph of a page A15 Times piece, Rick Santorum accuses Barack Obama of engaging in “absolutely un-American activities.”  What are they?  The article doesn't say.  The quote appears without explanation or comment, in an article entitled …

Santorum: States Should Have The Right To Outlaw Birth Control  —  Rick Santorum reiterated his belief that states should have the right to outlaw contraception during an interview with ABC News yesterday, saying, “The state has a right to do that, I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that.

The Next War: Pentagon to Present Vision of Reduced Military  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is set this week to reveal his strategy that will guide the Pentagon in cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from its budget, and with it the Obama administration's vision …

Michelle Obama's backside is your business how?  —  Can you imagine how the incident would play out if an African American congressman made a crude remark about First Lady Laura Bush's body?  It certainly would have taken more than an insincere apology to wash that sin away.

When will media demand that Mitt Romney back up his claims about jobs?  —  I don't know how to be any clearer about this, but here goes.  It is now beyond doubt that Mitt Romney will be resting his case against Obama on two core claims.  —  The first: At Bain Capital, Romney created over 100,000 jobs …

The Trouble With Time's ‘Person of the Year’  —  This isn't just my first post of the New Year—it's my first post of the modern era.  Actually, I did guest-blog here at TheAtlantic.com a couple of years ago, so maybe a better way to put it is that this is the first-ever post in my very own blog stream.

Huckabee: Rs more interested in defeating Obama than in rebuilding USA (audio)  —  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, victor in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses, called into the Radio Iowa newsroom this morning for a chat.  I'll be posted snippets over the next few hours.

Welfare Lines Overflow  —  Crowded Public-Assistance Centers Interrupt Services as Demand for Aid Grows  —  Growing numbers of New Yorkers seeking food stamps have created an unwelcome spillover effect at some of New York City's job centers: overcrowding that in some cases has grown so severe, benefits were jeopardized.

Krugman - Nobodys Understands Debt (But Now I Do!)  —  Let's start the New Year by breaking a resolution.  Here we go with Krugman v. Krugman, with yet another illustration of how Krugman's economic theories are dictated by the residency of the White House.

Iran threatens action if US carrier returns-IRNA  —  Iran will take action if a U.S. aircraft carrier which left the area because of Iranian naval exercises returns to the Gulf, the state news agency quoted army chief Ataollah Salehi as saying on Tuesday.  —  “Iran will not repeat its warning …