The Obamas meet Santa's elves

During remarks at a Democratic fundraiser, President Obama avoiding mentioning recent controversies but criticized the "tendency in Washington to put politics ahead of policy, to put the next election ahead of the next generation," saying, "that mindset is what we need to change" if we hope to move America forward.

As a young man, "Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down," said President Obama during a commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta, "but one of the things you've learned over the last four years is that there's no longer any room for excuses."

President Obama channeled optimism on America's economic future in his weekly address on Saturday, noting positive news on deficit reduction, the housing market, the auto industry, and the energy sector to make his case that "in a lot of sectors, things are looking up."

The IRS is charged with overseeing part of the implementation of the president's healthcare reform law, and that's a problem, according to Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who warned in the weekly GOP address today that the recent targeting scandal at the tax agency proves "that the IRS needs less power, not more."

Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller told Congress that senior IRS official Lois Lerner's disclosure last week that the agency had engaged in excessive targeting of conservative groups was the result of a "planned Q&A," and that he "talked about" the question with the questioner before the event began.

After a "very important, productive meeting" with President Obama and military leaders on the "huge problem" of sexual assault in the military, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that while there is no "silver bullet" to stop the problem, "We all have committed to turn this around, and we're going to fix the problem."