Republicans Balk at White House Plan to Avert Fiscal Crisis  —  WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner presented the House speaker, John A. Boehner, a detailed proposal on Thursday to avert the year-end fiscal crisis with $1.6 trillion in tax increases over 10 years …

UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to recognize state of Palestine; US, Israel object  —  UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States.

U.S. birth rate plummets to its lowest level since 1920  —  The U.S. birth rate plunged last year to a record low, with the decline being led by immigrant women hit hard by the recession, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.  —  The overall birth rate declined …

Why President Obama Isn't Using His Most Powerful Weapon — Again  —  The stakes in “fiscal cliff” talks are high — so where's the e-mail list?  So far, it's 2009 all over again.  —  Via: barackobama.com  —  President Obama and his victorious campaign team have signaled that they won't repeat …

Just Walk Away, Republicans  —  RUSH: I'm having trouble coming up with a term for this.  But the conventional wisdom, the groupthink, I mean, folks, I don't care where you go, and this is not a criticism.  I'm actually looking at this in wonderment.  I don't care where you go.

Cruz lays out pathway for more inclusive GOP  —  Washington (CNN) - Ted Cruz, the Republican senator-elect from Texas who's replacing retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, knows he doesn't quite fit certain molds found in Washington.  —  “I'm something that's not supposed to exist: An Hispanic Republican,” he said.

The GOP's Medicare confusion  —  The austerity crisis talks have hit a peculiar impasse.  The problem isn't, as most analysts expected, taxes, where Republicans seem increasingly resigned to new revenue.  It's Medicare.  And the particular Medicare problem isn't that Democrats are refusing the GOP's proposed Medicare cuts.

McCain Gets Petty On Susan Rice Attacks: It's ‘Meaningless To Take Out Core Al-Qaeda’  —  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said on Wednesday that it is “meaningless” that al-Qaeda's core leadership — including presumably, Osama bin Laden — has been wiped out over the last four years.  Why would McCain make such a claim?

Strauss-Kahn Said to Reach Deal to Settle With Hotel Housekeeper  —  Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the hotel housekeeper who accused him of sexually assaulting her last year have quietly reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit she brought against him stemming from the case that made international headlines …

Syrian Internet Is Off The Air  —  Click for latest update: 01:00 GMT Friday.  —  Starting at 10:26 UTC on Thursday, 29 November (12:26pm in Damascus), Syria's international Internet connectivity shut down.  In the global routing table, all 84 of Syria's IP address blocks have become unreachable …

Police report: Maine West coach witnessed sexual hazing, congratulated victim  —  At the law firm of Romanucci & Blandin, a parent who did not want her identity disclosed, talked about transferring her son from Maine West to Maine East after she reported hazing of a sexual nature against her son …

The Autism Advantage  —  When Thorkil Sonne and his wife, Annette, learned that their 3-year-old son, Lars, had autism, they did what any parent who has faith in reason and research would do: They started reading.  At first they were relieved that so much was written on the topic.

WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning gives evidence for first time  —  Manning takes stand at pre-trial hearing and speaks at length about his treatment by the military following his arrest in 2010  —  After 917 days in military captivity, the world finally heard on Thursday from Bradley Manning …

Clinton: Legalization not the answer to the drug war  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she did not believe that domestic drug legalization was the answer to the cartel violence that plagues Central America as a result of the drug trade.  —  Asked by the Costa Rican ambassador …

Federal Judge Rules Nevada Can Ban Same-Sex Couples From Marriage  —  Ruling comes on eve of Supreme Court conference to decide whether it will hear any cases dealing with same-sex couples' marriage rights in the coming year.  —  Marriage equality advocates cheer during a rally in San Francisco, California, February 7, 2012.

Donald Trump Partnership Ruins Macy's Popularity  —  The old adage that “all press is good press” might not ring true with department store chain Macy's.  Their recent partnership with conservative billionaire oddball Donald Trump is causing a sudden drop in the brand's popularity, particularly among women.