Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) defends President Obama's hostage negotiator analogy. Rep. Jackson Lee says many Democrats are unhappy with the compromise, but will go along with it this time. However, Jackson Lee warns

"This country was founded on compromise. I couldn't go through the front door at this country's founding. And if we were really thinking about ideal positions, we wouldn't have a union," President Obama said at a Tuesday news conference on. "My job is to make sure we have a North Star out there," Obama added.

President Obama says the left complaining he is compromising too much reminds him about the public option during the health care debate. Obama says "we will be able to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are," if we don't compromise. "That can't be the measure of what it means to be a

President Obama says the economy is growing and the unemployment rate will go down.

"It's tempting not to negoitate with hostage takers unless the hostage gets harmed," President Obama said at his Tuesday press conference. "In this case, the hostage was the American people," Obama said.

Rush Limbaugh says the media is "creating this image" that the tax cuts are government money that they are being generous and letting us keep. He responds to the report about the tax cut compromise from ABC's Jake Tapper. Rush as

"This is -- seems to be their central economic doctrine," President Obama said of the Republicans who want to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) says "we simply must preserve the tax cuts." Bachmann responds to the notion that it "costs money" to letting people keep their money.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) calls the tax cuts a "tax bonus" for millionaires.McCaskill rebutted a study that the stimulus "created no jobs," by saying it prevented the firing of teachers across the state of Missouri."I'm pleased that we're getting the extension of unemployment," Sen. McCaskill said on FOX News.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs says extending expiring tax cuts for two years wasn't "brokered intentionally" as another stimulus bill. (via The Hill)

Eugene Robinson says the president does get judged about whether the recovery happened and if people feel it or not. However, after the tax cuts, Robinson reveals he is not sure if President Obama will get "credit" for the recovery. Robinson says Obama seems ready to own the compromise and he should defend it instead of acting like he was "dragg

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) says the tax cuts are the cheapest, easiest way to create jobs. "This is a step in the right direction," Alexander told FOX News. "This is a new experience for the White House. Up to now it's been 'we won the election, we'll write the bill,'" Sen. Alexander said.

Is anyone really happy with the agreement on tax cuts and unemployment benefits by Pres. Obama, Democrats and Republicans? Sen. John Thune (R-SD) discusses on FOX News. "This is an acknowledgment by the President ... that the election matter," Thune said.

Sen. DURBIN (D-IL): "Well, there is, you know, there's a group that may walk and say at some point you've gone too far. If the Republicans overreach, if they start including some of their pet projects into this compromise, when it comes to the tax code, you could find a walkout on the Democratic side, people saying you've just pushed it too far.

Joe Scarborough tells the "right" that after tax cuts, you "can't call Obama a socialist."Scarborough says President Obama has become a "Jack Kemp Democrat."

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) says a two-year increase of the Bush-era tax cuts is not enough to return confidence to the consumer.Hensarling on unemployment benefits extension: We need paychecks, not unemployment checks.Yesterday,

The Wikileaks founder is taken into custody to face charges for sex crimes.

Is the GOP off to a slow start without a presumed front-runner? Karl Rove responds.

Dr. Charles Krauthammer: "This was a speech that was rather partisan. Interestingly, it's about the first agreement and supposedly the first step in a new era of comity in Washington, but it was quite partisan. He attacked the Republican ideas. He said he disagrees with them strongly, but he had to compromise. This was a speech aimed at appeasin

NBC's Chuck Todd on Democrats opposing Bush-era tax cuts now compared to how they acted six months ago.

Bill O'Reilly: The far left is now furious with President Obama over the presumed tax cut compromise.

ABC's Jake Tapper says President Obama "gave in" and "caved" to the Republicans on tax cuts without getting them to compromise enough. "This is the best deal he could get," Tapper says. Tapper reports on how rich Americans will benefit.