Dem. source: GOP calling for permanent extension of cuts for wealthiest 2%  —  Washington (CNN) - One of the reasons Tuesday night's conversation between President Barack Obama and John Boehner did not go well was because the GOP House speaker sent the White House a fiscal cliff proposal calling …

Do We Really Have to Condemn the Union Protestor Who Punched Fox News Comedian Steven Crowder?  —  Good, serious progressives are supposed to condemn violence as a political tactic, because it's wrong and in many cases counterproductive.  But do we really need to condemn the union protestor …

Standing and Delivering  —  Is it heretical of me, or merely quirky, to find myself nearly as fascinated by the procedural game the Supreme Court is playing in the same-sex marriage cases as I am by the underlying merits of the two appeals the court has agreed to decide?

For immediate release  —  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in October suggests that economic activity and employment have continued to expand at a moderate pace in recent months, apart from weather-related disruptions.  Although the unemployment rate …

Rep. Jim Moran's Son Guilty of Beating Up His Girlfriend in Columbia Heights  —  Update, 4:30 p.m.: Rep. Moran says his son's incident was an accident, and Patrick Moran's girlfriend blames her injuries on a broken high heel.  —  Patrick Moran, the son of Democratic Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, is having a bad year.

GOP Pollster: Republicans Have ‘Run Out Of’ White Voters  —  Republicans need to dramatically improve their standing with Latino voters or risk becoming a “regional party” of disaffected whites, according to a study released Wednesday by a GOP pollster.  —  “Republicans have run …

Barbara Walters' 2012 “Most Fascinating People”  —  Barbara tells “GMA” how she came up with this year's list.  —  Transcript for Barbara Walters' 2012 “Most Fascinating People”  —  Her husband wants her to.  But she's not sure.  Another person a lot of people talk about for running in 2016 …

GOV'T ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SENATE INTERN  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by immigration authorities, The Associated Press has learned.

The Republican Bait-and-Switch  —  Michigan Governor Rick Snyder opens the Detroit Regional Chamber 2012 Mackinac Policy Conference.  —  One striking thing about Governor Rick Snyder's successful push for a right-to-work law in Michigan—and Scott Walker's similar push against public employee unions …

Loud-Ass TV Ads Are About to Be Outlawed  —  Listen up, TV advertisers: Big Brother is muting you!  Well, not entirely.  But beginning at midnight tonight, new Federal Communications Commission rules will bar television networks from blasting viewers with those excessively loud, screamy commercial breaks.

A new play, an old problem of media bias  —  Roger L. Simon, former Hollywood screenwriter and now CEO of the conservative PJ Media, and his wife, Sheryl Longin, have written a new play with an unlikely subject, the journalist fraud perpetrated by Walter Duranty of the New York Times …

Why Republicans Can't Propose Spending Cuts  —  Math is hard.  —  “Where are the president's spending cuts?” asks John Boehner.  With Republicans coming to grips with their inability to stop taxes on the rich from rising, the center of the debate has turned to the expenditure side.

Sarah Palin's Son Headed for Divorce Court  —  Son Headed for  —  DIVORCE COURT  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Sarah Palin's oldest son has pulled the trigger on his marriage by filing for divorce ... TMZ has learned.  —  Track Palin and his wife, Britta, jointly filed divorce docs in an Alaskan court.

Lindsey Graham Compares Marriage Equality Debate To The Civil War  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) waffled on his same-sex marriage stance Tuesday night, telling CNN's Piers Morgan he thinks states should have the right to decide marriage rights.  —  This is a departure from Graham's longstanding commitment …

U.S. Census Bureau Projections Show a Slower Growing, Older, More Diverse Nation a Half Century from Now  —  The U.S. population will be considerably older and more racially and ethnically diverse by 2060, according to projections released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Committee Assignments For 113th Congress Approved By Democratic Steering Committee … Reid: Assignments “Will Allow All Members Of Our Caucus To Bring Their Unique Talents And Expertise To Bear As We Work Together To Advance The Interests Of The Middle Class.”

Time and Punishment: Mandatory Sentences Face Growing Skepticism  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Stephanie George and Judge Roger Vinson had quite different opinions about the lockbox seized by the police from her home in Pensacola.  She insisted she had no idea that a former boyfriend had hidden it in her attic.

Joe L. Allbritton dies at 87  —  Joe L. Allbritton, who vaulted from modest means as a young man in post-World War II Texas to become one of the most influential media and financial figures of his generation, died Wednesday in Houston after several months of ill health.  He was 87.

The Cliff Hangs on the Fed: Why Ben Bernanke Controls the Economy's Fate  —  The liberal nightmare about the fiscal cliff is overwrought, since the Fed has the power to avert disaster.  If Bernanke acts properly, Congress could cut spending deeply without risking a recession.  —  Reuters

Powerful committee seats rewarded to Dems who survived tough races  —  Politics played a powerful role in Senate Democrats' committee assignments, announced on Wednesday, with many of the Sens.-elect who survived tough races given plum spots in powerful committees as a reward.