Criticized as Weak in Past Talks, Obama Takes Harder Line  —  WASHINGTON — Amid demands from Republicans that President Obama propose detailed new spending cuts to avert the year-end fiscal crisis, his answer boils down to this: you first.  —  Mr. Obama, scarred by failed negotiations …

Hillary is Running: A Dispatch from the Saban Forum  —  Hillary Clinton is running for President.  And the Israeli political class is a full-blown train wreck.  These are two conclusions, for whatever they are worth, based on a three-day conference I attended this weekend at the annual Saban Forum, in Washington, D.C.

Narcissist in chief: President Obama honors Rosa Parks anniversary with picture of himself; Update: Adam Baldwin with the win  —  Just when you think President Obama's impossibly large ego can't grow further, he makes it happen!  —  President Obama loves to insert himself in other people's biographies.

Congress Retains Low Honesty Rating  —  Nurses have highest honesty rating; car salespeople, lowest  —  PRINCETON, NJ — As Congress remains involved in protracted negotiations over the pending “fiscal cliff” that could disrupt the nation's economy if not addressed by Jan. 1 …

Vatican discloses Pope's Twitter handle: @pontifex … VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - It's official.  Pope Benedict's handle on Twitter will be @pontifex.  —  He already has 1.2 billion “followers” in the standard sense of the word but next week he will have another type when he enters …

Does clinical legal education really have to be about left-liberal politics?  —  For my many and manifold sins, I have been assigned to the law school's appointment committee.  I'm grateful for the assignment, since I figure St Peter will credit it against my stint in Purgatory.

2016 contenders court mega-donors  —  A week after Election Day, three Republican governors mentioned as 2016 presidential candidates — Bobby Jindal, John Kasich and Bob McDonnell — each stopped by the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino to meet privately with its owner Sheldon Adelson …

Kid Rock: Obama and I have ‘no hard feelings’  —  Washington (CNN) - Musician Kid Rock, who was a celebrity surrogate for Mitt Romney, said President Barack Obama wasted no time in jokingly acknowledging their campaign rivalry Sunday.  —  “It was nice.  I saw the president tonight.

Singer Alanis Morissette defies boycott, threats over Israel concert  —  Pop singer Alanis Morissette arrived in Israel today for a concert at Tel Aviv's Nokia Theater; she last performed there in 2000. … Alanis Morissette in Israel  —  The usual voices of intolerance are protesting the Grammy Award-winning songwriter's visit.

Republicans ready to forget Romney and embrace Rep. Ryan on Medicare  —  Mitt Romney's Medicare budget might be fading away just as quickly as Romney himself.  —  During the campaign, candidate Romney repeatedly hammered President Obama for cutting $716 billion from Medicare as part of his signature healthcare law.

The Full McConnell  —  In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mitch McConnell finally mentioned a few sort-of specifics about what spending cuts the GOP wants: raising the Medicare age, charging higher premiums to affluent Medicare recipients, and changing the price indexing of Social Security.

New York Times Seeks Buyouts From 30 in Newsroom  —  Aiming to cut costs in an increasingly troubled advertising environment, The New York Times announced on Monday morning that it would offer buyout packages to newsroom employees.  While the primary goal of the buyout program is to trim managers …

Study: Governors Have No Pull Helping Presidential Nominees Carry Their State  —  States have voted more frequently for a presidential nominee of a different party than its sitting governor across 600 contests since 1968; even more so in battleground states  —  With the 2012 election …

In KC, it's no time for a game  —  KANSAS CITY, MO.  —  Football is embarrassingly tone deaf.  —  Jovan Belcher, a starting linebacker for the Chiefs, murdered the mother of his child shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday.  He hopped in his car, drove to the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility …

Abbas ‘Victory Speech’: Jerusalem ‘Eternal Capital of Palestine’  —  PA Chairman promises that someday the PA flag will fly over “Jerusalem, eternal capital of the state of Palestine.”  —  PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Sunday promised someday the PA flag would fly over “Jerusalem, eternal capital of the state of Palestine.”