President Morsi in Egypt Seizes New Powers  —  CAIRO — With a constitutional assembly on the brink of collapse and protesters battling the police in the streets over the slow pace of change, President Mohamed Morsi issued a decree on Thursday granting himself broad powers above any court …

Walmart Strikers Arrested in SoCal Civil Disobedience (Updated 3:30 PM)  —  Check this space for updates throughout the day, and please send tips to jeidelson at gmail dot com.  —  3:30 PM: Civil disobedience is underway now in Paramount, outside Los Angeles, where organizers say 1,500 workers …

The GOP's bizarre attack on Susan Rice  —  SINCE THE Senate is solely responsible for the confirmation of Cabinet officers, it's not often that members of the House of Representatives jump into a debate about the nomination of a secretary of state — particularly before there has been a nomination.

Saxby Chambliss takes aim at Grover Norquist  —  Sen. Saxby Chambliss took aim at Americans for Tax Reform head Grover Norquist on Wednesday, telling a local television station he's not worried about a potential primary challenge if he votes to raise taxes.  —  “I care more about my country …

Jeb Bush in 2016?  Not Too Early for Chatter  —  CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Now that the Obama and Romney campaigns have closed their headquarters in Chicago and Boston, the attention of the political world is shifting to an office suite tucked behind the colonnades of the Biltmore Hotel complex here.

Who's Really to Blame for the Wal-Mart Strikes?  The American Consumer  —  The Wal-Mart workers threatening to walk off the job on Black Friday aren't just fighting their employer.  They're fighting a whole system.  —  Forget the stampeding shoppers, the half-priced waffle irons …

The GOP Turnout Myth  —  To win future elections, Republicans will need more than better get-out-the-vote software.  —  To win the next presidential race, the GOP will have to understand what went wrong in 2012.  To do that, they've got to come to grips with what did, and did not, happen with turnout.

One-Party Control Opens States to Partisan Rush  —  CHICAGO — Come January, more than two-thirds of the states will be under single-party control, raising the prospect that bold partisan agendas — on both ends of the political spectrum — will flourish over the next couple of years.

Man dressed as clown dies during Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade  —  DEATH AT THE PARADE:Robert Blasetti is tended to by emergency workers after collapsing at the parade yesterday.  He was later pronounced dead.  —  A 67-year-old man dressed as a clown went into cardiac arrest and died …

GOP Plan B on taxes: Protect business owners  —  It may be time to add another phrase to the fiscal cliff lexicon: carve-out.  —  Republicans in the Senate are brainstorming ways to shield small businesses from tax hikes should they be unable to persuade President Barack Obama to extend the Bush tax rate cuts for everyone.

Letter: Employers using loopholes in ACA  —  When my better half told me that her boss was thinking about cutting all full-time employees to part time in order to avoid the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act insurance requirements (for full-time employees), my initial response was …