'Fiscal cliff' nudges deal-making talk

House Speaker John A. Boehner offered the first olive branch Wednesday in what is expected to be a frenetic spate of postelection deal-making to avert the looming "fiscal cliff," saying the GOP will let the government collect more tax revenue if President Obama will drop his plan to raise tax rates on the wealthy.

Reeling conservatives face 'recalibration' at their core

Republicans found themselves facing agonizing day-after questions Wednesday that they admit are nearly impossible to answer while trying to hold together their diverse electoral coalition and ensure their survival as America's conservative party.

Colorado, Washington blow smoke in feds' face by OK'ing pot for fun

In passing amendments in Colorado and Washington state for the first time legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, voters may have placed themselves in the cross hairs of the federal government -- which steadfastly has maintained that possession of the drug remains a federal crime.

Keystone pipeline pushed to forefront

With a second term now in hand, President Obama no longer can delay a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline and must either side with environmentalists within his party or greenlight a major step toward North American energy independence.

Reid vows renewed push for Dream Act

The election has strengthened President Obama's hand on immigration, and Dream Act organizers said it likely means a flood of hundreds of thousands of new applications for his nondeportation policy — but it's not clear that anything has changed in the decade-long stalemate in Congress on the issue.

Veteran journalist David S. Jackson named executive editor at The Washington Times

Veteran journalist David S. Jackson has been named the new executive editor of The Washington Times, President and CEO Larry Beasley announced Wednesday.

Tea partyers say GOP must learn from defeat

Slamming the Republican Party establishment for tapping Mitt Romney as its standard-bearer, the co-founder of the nation's largest tea party group said Wednesday the lessons learned from the 2012 presidential election will strengthen the grass-roots movement, making it an even more important part of the GOP's future.

Stocks dive on fears of federal fiscal cliff

Stocks plummeted Wednesday as the re-election of President Obama reinforced fears that a battle over higher taxes will drive the U.S. economy over the "fiscal cliff."

Reid moves to limit GOP filibusters

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that he will try to push through a change to Senate rules that would limit the GOP's ability to filibuster bills.

Inside the Beltway: Call to arms

"Do not despair. Do not give up. Fight back! The Obama agenda can only succeed if we let it."

Obama win doesn't change Hillary Clinton's plans to step down

The State Department on Wednesday said Tuesday's election results don't change Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's plans to step down.

Moderates will have a voice on the Hill

Congressional moderates are down in numbers after Tuesday's elections, but they're not quite out, despite the highly charged partisanship that has engulfed Capitol Hill in recent years.

ELECTION 2012: West campaign to contest razor-thin loss in Florida

The campaign of Rep. Allen B. West, a Florida Republican freshman and tea party favorite who trails Democrat Patrick Murphy by 2,456 votes with 100 percent of the votes counted, said Wednesday the controversial lawmaker will seek a recount in a race that is "far from decided."

ELECTION 2012: Sen. Dean Heller retains seat in Nevada

Republican Sen. Dean Heller has won a re-election squeaker in Nevada, besting Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley by just 12,137 votes.

Boehner: GOP willing to accept new tax revenue

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Wednesday that Republicans are "willing to accept new revenue" coming to the federal government as part of a new debt deal, offering an early olive branch in the aftermath of Tuesday's election.

Gay marriage likely here to stay in Iowa

Iowa voters decided Tuesday to retain a state Supreme Court justice who participated in the landmark 2009 ruling that made Iowa the first Midwestern state to allow gay marriage, trumping a conservative campaign to oust him.

Commentary

DECKER: Excommunicating Christie

The day after a presidential election is a time for soul-searching for the losing party. Republicans need to look in the mirror and seriously analyze the troublesome reality that they have forgotten how to win important elections. With unemployment stuck around 8 percent, economic growth basically nonexistent and the nation suffocating from record debt, the White House should have been the GOP's for the taking in 2012. The elephants need a new dynamic leader. It's vital they don't pick a RINO.

EDITORIAL: Obama: A lame-duck president

President Obama will enter his second term a lame duck from Day One. In fact, he has been limping along for some time already.

GORDON: The next Benghazi

The next Benghazi could occur in many places: Tunis. Cairo. Sanaa. Karachi. Or a less obvious place such as one that was attacked by terrorists in years past, such as Buenos Aires, Jakarta or Manila. It could be where Iran is seeking a stronger foothold, say in Caracas or La Paz.

MEANS: Dysfunctional government might save us

The dismal state of our national finances is going to require that the United States downsize the government over the next four years. We don't have any other options. At the same time, we must fight any expansion of government that will guarantee the bankrupting of our country and mortgaging of our future. Under President Obama, America is well on the way to becoming a mortgage-backed security that not even Goldman Sachs would try to sell.

TRZUPEK: EPA witch hunts on taxpayer dime

President Obama has made it pretty clear to his environmental extremist friends that during his second term, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will pursue a more aggressive, wider-reaching agenda than it has to date. That's a very troubling prospect. Not only has EPA Director Lisa P. Jackson's agency been wildly and needlessly intrusive into the private sector during the past four years, but its agenda increasingly has been based less and less on science and data and more and more on conjecture and hyperbole. Thus, Mrs. Jackson's EPA has become almost indistinguishable -- in a policy sense -- from the environmental groups to which it panders. Science suffers as a result.