Why they want to go over the cliff  —  Washington's Democratic and Republican power brokers have sent the message to the nation that going over the fiscal cliff is a worst-case scenario.  But they're not acting that way, not at all.  —  Instead, many of them have calculated that it's better …

3 Officers Wounded After Suspect Opens Fire At Gloucester Township Police Station  —  CLEMENTON, NJ (CBS) — Police and rescue crews responded to the Gloucester County Municipal Building on Chews Landing Road this morning after shots were fired inside the Gloucester Township police station.

A Double Shot of Misunderstanding  —  One of the enduring fantasies of the pundit class - most dramatically demonstrated by the ludicrous Politico piece on What Insiders Know - is that all we need to fix our economic problems is to get the great and the good together and bypass those pesky elected officials.

Exclusive: David Dewhurst campaign says aide stole at least $600,000  —  Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (front), receiving an endorsement during his U.S. Senate campaign from former rival Craig James, had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from his state political accounts by an aide, his campaign says.

Grim milestone: Austin shooting apparently 500th homicide in Chicago  —  Gave Bates smiled through tears as she swiped her hand across her phone, flipping through pictures of her cousin playing around and striking goofy poses.  —  “He was a lot of fun, very good at imitating people,” Bates said of Nathaniel T. Jackson, 40.

Putin Signs Ban on U.S. Adoptions  —  Children at an orphanage in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.  A new law would ban Americans from adopting Russians.  —  MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin signed a bill Friday banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children, raising tensions with Washington …

Gang-Rape In India: Teen Victim Kills Herself  —  Video: Women mourn the death of the teenager  —  A 17-year-old Indian girl who was allegedly gang-raped killed herself after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers, police and a relative said on Thursday.

High-Capacity Magazines Bill To Be Introduced By Democrats On First Day Of Congressional Session … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Gun Control, Video, Politics News, Assault Weapons, Assault Weapons Ban, Democrats Gun Control, Gun Control Bills, Gun Control Democrats, Gun Control Laws …

GOP senators propose $1 trillion debt ceiling deal  —  A pair of GOP senators, confident Congress will head off the tax hikes set to kick in within days, are already turning their attention to entitlements and the debt ceiling.  —  Tennessee Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander pitched …

Sheriff Arpaio sending armed posse to protect schools  —  PHOENIX — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday that he plans to deploy his armed volunteer posse to protect Valley schools from the kind of violence that happened in the Connecticut shooting tragedy.

112th Congress Set To Become Most Unproductive Since 1940s … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  112th Congress, Harry Reid , John Boehner, Republican Party, Congress Productivity, Olympia Snowe, Bipartisanship, Congress Unproductive, Fiscal Cliff, Unproductive Congress, Politics News

Retired Gen. Schwarzkopf dies at 78  —  H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the four-star Army general who led allied forces to a stunningly quick and decisive victory over Saddam Hussein's Iraqi military in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and who became the most celebrated U.S. military hero of his generation, died Thursday in Tampa.

The logic of House GOP intransigence  —  The unruly House Republicans who emasculated Speaker John Boehner as the country flirts with fiscal havoc might've seemed like they were doing their best “Lord of the Flies” rendition.  —  But last week's mayhem had a certain logic — the logic of politicians wanting to keep their jobs.

Senate Republicans refuse to confirm Kerry until Hillary testifies about Benghazi  —  Isn't this pushing a jinx?  If Senate Republicans insist on having Hillary Clinton testify before allowing John Kerry's confirmation to proceed, aren't they risking a torn ACL or turf toe for the outgoing Secretary of State?

Summoned Back to Work, Senators Chafe at Inaction  —  WASHINGTON — Senators bid hasty goodbyes to families, donned ties and pantsuits in lieu of sweat pants and Christmas sweaters and one by one returned to the Capitol on Thursday to begin the business of doing nothing in particular.

Bush aide: “Please put the harps back in the closet”  —  The chief of staff to former Pres. George H.W. Bush, who is in intensive care at Houston's Methodist Hospital, told Bush family and friends in an email today that the former president “would ask me to tell you to please put the harps back in the closet …

Rage against rules  —  Instagram revolt  —  Instagram users outraged over new rules made good on their threat to dump the popular photo-sharing app.  —  The app, which Facebook acquired for $1 billion earlier this year, may have shed nearly a quarter of its daily active users in the wake of the debacle …