"The commanders on the ground feel that we should bring down our surge troops by December of 2012 and bring down all of our troops other than 10,000 or so by the end of 2014. The decision to pull our troops out before that, they believe, would put at risk the extraordinary investment of treasure and blood which has been sacrificed by the American m

Columnist Mona Charen says the failure of the super committee is exactly what President Obama wanted. "No. This was the whole point. He never -- he wanted the negotiations to fail because it's part of his strategy, which is to suggest that if not for the Republicans' attachment to their wealthy friends, something could have been done. But, it' s

"We need to sanction the Iranian central bank. That would be one of the most powerful ways to impact them.As a matter of fact, Congressman Paul, that is what we need to do before we ever start having conversations about a military strike is to use every sanction that we have," Gov. Rick Perry said when asked about preventing Iran from getting a

"Everything he does is about campaigning. He gave up the governance phase of this term about three months ago," Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday evening on FOX News' "Special Report" program. "This payroll tax cut and demanding that it be paid for by taxing the 1%. It's part of an Occupy Wall Street campaign. That's what he is running. It's you

GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul debate the merits of extending the Patriot Act to secure our country. "The Patriot Act is unpatriotic because it undermines our liberty," Ron Paul said at the GOP debate in Washington, DC on Tuesday night. "I'm concerned as everybody is about [a] terrorist attack." Transcript of Ron Paul below.

"I think the aid is all worthless. It doesn't do any good for most of the people. You take money from poor people in this country and you end up giving it to rich people in poor countries. And they're used as weapons of war so you accomplish nothing. We should export maybe some principles about free markets and sound money and maybe they can produc

After expressing how much Obama thrilled him at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Chris Matthews wonders if Obama made people "expect so much more" because he spoke so well about "American exceptionalism" during his campaign. "Okay. Chill and thrill, not tingle, which is the favorite word of the right wing. It's great, they love to giggle

MSNBC's Al Sharpton responds to Rush Limbaugh's comment that Michelle Obama is acting uppity. Sharpton says Limbaugh was playing the "race card." Seriously. SHARPTON: "But we're not going to get distracted by you,

"The folks that are most likely to be committing these crimes. I mean if you look at -- obviously Muslims would be someone you'd look at, absolutely. Those are the folks who the radical Muslims are the people that are committing these crimes by and large as well as younger males. I mean these are things that not exclusively, but these are things th

"So we’ve been weathering some hard years. We’ve been taking some tough punches. But one thing I know about folks in Manchester and folks in New Hampshire and folks all across the country is we’re tough. We’re fighting back. We are moving forward. And we are going to get this right so that every single American has opportunity in this

"We can't have an intellectually honest conversation about where we go in deficit spending with sacred cows. Everything is on the table," Jon Huntsman said at tonight's debate on CNN,"

Fmr. Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Penn.) tells MSNBC that the stimulus did work and did indeed create jobs. "It worked like a charm, absolutely like a charm. It helped America dramatically. The CBO said earlier, unemployment could have been as high as 1 or 2% more without the stimulus," he said.

"The images have resonated around the world in the same way that the lone man standing in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square resonated. It is an iconic movement in Occupy Wall Street history," Michael Moore declared on MSNBC's "Last Word" program. Moore was referring to police pepper spraying students at an "Occupy" protest at UC Davis.

Mediaite reports: However, it now seems that her spot on the show was tainted from the very beginning thanks to a sly commentary from Fallon’s house band, The Roots. In case anyone watching the show was curious why Bachmann’s entrance music appeared to be a rocking ska song, the song’s title, “Lyin’ Ass Bitch,” might explain things. (vi

Al Sharpton stumbles and bumbles while explaining a story about blueberry pie that he used as a political metaphor. (hat tip Business Insider)

Rick Perry discusses the failure of the congressional super committee with the "Special Report" panel."Being the president of the United States, you've got to lead, and this president has not led on this issue," Perry said.

Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein and Robert Reich, former labor secretary in the Clinton administration, join The Last Word with analysis on the super committee’s failure and what it means for politicians in Washington.

Rachel Maddow talks about the failure of the Super Committee, how the stock market dealt with the failure, and where the country goes from here.

Bill O'Reilly says Congress and the failure of the Super Committee is an insult to the country.

A group of protesters interrupted President Obama's speech Tuesday in Manchester, N.H.The Hill reports:The president smiled through the disruption, saying: "No, it's OK," as other parts of the crowd s

Chris Matthews, David Yepsen and Ron Klain discuss how Romney can win the GOP nomination by winning in Iowa.