Columns

You may have never heard of the 17-year-old actress Taylor Momsen, but she represents everything that's wrong with pop culture today. At 7, she starred as the adorable Cindy Lou Who in Jim Carrey's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," but there's nothing adorable in what she's done lately.

WASHINGTON -- As the new political group No Labels convened in Manhattan, a judge was issuing a decision that illustrated why the group's premise is preposterous and its pretense is cloying. The premise, obscured by gaseous rhetoric, is that political heat is inherently disproportionate. The complacent pretense is that it is virtuous to transcend the vice of partisanship.

This week saw members of Congress riding on a crazy roller coaster that ended when the House voted to pass the global tax agreement early Friday morning by a vote of 277 to 148, thereby sending the bill to the president for his signature.

When ABC's Barbara Walters deems Sarah Palin one of the year's "Most Fascinating People," it's a backhanded compliment. Walters knows Palin has an adoring fan base, and she's definitely not part of it. When the Dec. 2 special began, Walters greeted Palin with "Many people find the thought of you as president a little scary."

For those who have read about or vaguely remember the stolid British tribe of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, which held out in its "finest hour," last week brought a disgusting sight.

It is hard to come up with Christmas gifts for people who already seem to have everything. But there are few -- if any -- people who can keep up with the flood of books coming off the presses. Books can be good gifts for such people.

As lawmakers wring their hands over an expected spike in K-12 enrollment, will they grasp an obvious, market-based solution?

"The single most important jobs program we can put in place is a growing economy." So said Barack Obama at his surly press conference last week defending the tax deal he made with Republicans.

The Senate will conduct the first test vote Monday on the global tax agreement. The 3 p.m. cloture vote requires at least 60 votes for the Senate to advance the bill further in Congress.

Members of Congress started out this week conducting symbolic political votes in order to pay back their Democratic base for their support in the past election. The Senate voted and failed to advance the following bills: