International:
U.S. Relations With Russia Chill Despite Bush Eyeing Putin's Soul: Cold War II
"I think this guy is taking Russia backward," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

"Russia is moving more and more to an oligarchy here. Putin is consolidating power," added Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who appeared with Graham on "FOX News Sunday" earlier this month.

"Our relations with Russia have to get straightened out," Biden said, suggesting the United States have a "direct confrontation" with Putin, and perhaps even threaten to review the country's membership in the elite G-8 group of industrialized nations.

ZUCKER TAKES ON THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP AND JAMES BAKER
watch it on YouTube and laugh!

National:
The Greatest Threat To Our Standard Of Living
The greatest current threat to our standard of living is the current account deficit, which now stands at a whopping $225.6 billion in just the third quarter of 2006. This is the equivalent of 6.8 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP). Current account deficits above 5 percent flash a threat level of “red” to economists.

The current account is the broadest measure of our international transactions. It includes, among other, smaller items, exports and imports, as well as the interest U.S. residents earn on their investments abroad, minus the interest paid on debt that U.S. residents owe to the rest of the world.

Cheney to testify in leak case.
“Vice President Dick Cheney will be called as a defense witness in the CIA leak case, an attorney for Cheney’s former chief of staff told a federal judge Tuesday. ‘We’re calling the vice president,‘ attorney Ted Wells said in court.”

In Shift To Right, McCain Embraces Henry Kissinger
"n his latest shift to the right, McCain is openly embracing Kissinger. Hotline On Call reports that McCain has chosen Kissinger to be the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.

The selection reflects an increasingly unified position on Iraq advocated by Kissinger, McCain, and President Bush. Bush is reportedly set to adopt McCain’s plan to escalate the war with tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops, and has taken up Kissinger’s mantra that victory in Iraq simply requires “sticking it out”:

Inflation roars back with 2 percent wholesale price jump
The core index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was up 1.3 percent -- the largest increase in more than 25 years -- against expectations of a 0.2 percent rise.

The surprise jump in prices challenges expectations from economists and the Federal Reserve that inflation is under control.

But some analysts said the increase may be a one-month quirk. "The November increases in producer prices should not be viewed with alarm, because of past monthly declines," said Peter Morici, economist at the University of Maryland

In Other News...
Report Reveals 2.2 Million Borrowers Face Foreclosure on Subprime Home LoansTuesday.
Billions of Home Ownership Wealth to be Lost by Minority Americans; Chart Contains Detailed MSA-Specific Projections of Home Foreclosure Impacts . More info here

FLASHBACK: Bush Insisted The ‘Sober Judgment of Our Military Leaders’ Would Determine Troop Levels. Watch the video here.

Snow On Whether We Are Winning In Iraq: ‘I’m Not Playing The Game Anymore’
[yeah, lets play "No weapons under there" again !] Less than two months ago, President Bush said explicitly that the United States was “winning” in Iraq. 10/25/06:
REPORTER: Are we winning?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Absolutely, we’re winning.

From The Right:
Patrick J. Buchanan: Person of the Year: Ahmadinejad
This year Time could not bring itself to name the obvious choice. Instead, it chose you and me, all of us citizens of the digital democracy who create on the Worldwide Web. Why the copout?

From The Left:
William Fisher: Winning by Losing?
"Five years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 'Islamophobia' - intensified by the war in Iraq and US government actions at home - has left millions of American Muslims fearful of harassment, discrimination, and questionable prosecutions, and confused about their place in American society."

Quote Of The Day:
"Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die."
George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006

( Sources: About.com, TownHall, TruthOut, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, BEA, SFChronicle, HotlineOnCall, Breibart, DrudgeReport)