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Hoyer tapped for party's No. 2 House spot — WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Thursday chose Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer to be House majority leader over Rep. John Murtha, brushing aside the choice of House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi. — Hoyer was elected on a vote of 149-86 not long …
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Hoyer Beats Pelosi's Pick in Race for No. 2 House Post — House Democrats chose Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland as their majority leader today after a bruising fight that cast a cloud over the party's post-election celebration. — The election of Mr. Hoyer over Representative John P. Murtha …
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Hoyer humiliates Pelosi, defeats Murtha, 149-86 — Just in at Fox. Soak it in. Updates coming. — Update: Unless there was some eleventh-hour shift to Hoyer — which is unlikely, considering that 90 Democrats had already publicly committed to him yesterday — then Murtha lied to Matthews's face on Hardball yesterday.

Murtha Loses... But It's Still a Victory for Pelosi — The votes are in and Steny Hoyer is the new House majority leaders, winning out over Jack Murtha 149-86. — For all the reasons I've made abundantly clear, I would've loved to see Murtha as Majority Leader.

CNN Political Ticker AM — For the latest, breaking political news, check for updates throughout the day on the CNN Political Ticker. All politics, all the time. — Compiled by Stephen Bach — Making news today... - House Dems meet to elect leaders by secret ballot this morning …
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Pelosi Splits Democrats With Push For Murtha — Speaker-to-Be Accused Of Strong-Arm Tactics — A showdown over the House majority leader's post today has Democrats bitterly divided only a week after their party took control of Congress and has prompted numerous complaints …
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Pelosi faces no-win outcome over Murtha — WASHINGTON - Democrats moved toward picking a top lieutenant to speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi and hoped to put to rest a politically costly family feud that intensified just days after they reclaimed the House from GOP control.
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Pelosi's First Mistake — As the new House majority caucus prepared …


Nobel economist Milton Friedman dead at 94 — Advocate of deregulation whose influence soared after Ronald Reagan became president. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Milton Friedman, the Nobel-prize winning economist who helped shape and define free-market economic theory, died Thursday at the age of 94 in San Francisco.
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Milton Friedman, a Leading Economist, Dies at 94 — Milton Friedman, the grandmaster of conservative economic theory in the postwar era and a prime force in the movement of nations toward lesser government and greater reliance on free markets and individual responsibility, died today at He was 94 years old.

Milton Friedman, economist, dies aged 94 — Milton Friedman, who has died aged 94, was the last of the great economists to combine possession of a household name with the highest professional credentials. In this respect he was often compared to John Maynard Keynes, whose work he always respected …

[BREAKING NEWS]: Student shot with Taser by UCPD officers — Incident occured around 11:30 p.m. in the Powell Library CLICC computer lab — UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.
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Airport Arrest Turns Up Nuclear Info — A man was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after officials say they found him carrying more than $78,000 in cash and a laptop computer containing information about nuclear materials and cyanide. — Sisayehiticha Dinssa, an unemployed U.S. citizen …


Sectarian Strife in Iraq Imperils Entire Region, Analysts Warn — BAGHDAD — While American commanders have suggested that civil war is possible in Iraq, many leaders, experts and ordinary people in Baghdad and around the Middle East say it is already underway, and that the real worry ahead …

Romney hires ex-Bush ad man — Producer noted for tough tactics — Governor Mitt Romney, who continues to sign up big-name political consultants for a probable presidential run, has hired bare-knuckles GOP ad man Alex Castellanos, a veteran of presidential campaigns known for his tough ads against Democratic candidates.

O. J. Simpson Writes a Book He'll Discuss on Fox TV — O. J. Simpson, who was acquitted 11 years ago in the 1994 death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald L. Goldman has written a book and will appear on television telling "how he would have committed the murders …