Political insiders say there could be more to South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's decision to resign his seat than just a bigger paycheck at a coveted Washington policy organization. Even some legislators on the hill are pointing out that GOP leaders are relegating their tea party types to the backbench and that is making them seek additional outlets to advance their cause.

Conservatives pay high accolades to DeMint for helping to recruit conservative candidates, oftentimes getting them through crowded primaries before setting the stage for general election victories.

Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, praised DeMint for bringing other conservatives to the Senate such as Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Lee (Utah) and newly elected Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas). more >>

A majority of Democrats indicated they have a positive view of "socialism," a recent Gallup poll found. But a Socialist Party spokesperson maintains that both the Democratic and Republican parties are ineffective.

A late November poll found that 53 percent of Democrats – or those who lean that way – have a favorable view of socialism compared to just 23 percent of Republicans.

In a column in Tuesday's Canada Free Press, conservative activist Robert Rohlfing makes the argument that Democrats should fully embrace socialism and rename their party to better reflect support of programs rooted in socialism, most notably the Affordable Healthcare Act, or commonly known as Obamacare. more >>

A suggestion by some Democrats that eliminating tax deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions could be part of a fiscal cliff deal is raising the specter of significant harm for the middle class, according to some experts.

And they are saying the church is at risk as well.

Some believe that President Obama may support eliminating these deductions despite repeated assertions during his campaign that he plans to protect the middle class. more >>

Republican leaders accused President Barack Obama of wasting time on the "fiscal cliff" negotiations in the proposal he offered Thursday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in five Sunday talk show appearances, countered that it was a serious proposal and it is now up to Republicans to offer a counter-proposal.

Obama's opening bid in the fiscal cliff negotiations showed a lack of seriousness, Republican leaders claimed on the Sunday talk shows. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) even claimed that the proposal means that Obama wants the nation to go over the fiscal cliff.

"We've got seven weeks between Election Day and the end of the year and three of those weeks have been wasted with this nonsense," Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in an interview on Fox News Sunday that was taped on Friday. more >>

The Republican plan to raise revenue through tax reform, rather than increasing tax rates, is possible, but would be difficult to pass because the tax preferences that would need to be eliminated are widely favored among voters, explained Diane Lim, chief economist for the Concord Coalition, in a Thursday interview with The Christian Post.

One of the main sticking points in the negotiations between the White House and House Republicans over averting the "fiscal cliff" is the source of new revenue. President Barack Obama and Democrats want the tax rates to go up for the top two tax brackets, or those making more than $250,000 per year. Republicans want to eliminate tax preferences, such as deductions, exclusions and credits. Democrats have argued that there is not enough revenue that could be raised from eliminating tax preferences, so tax rates must increase as well.

Together, all of the tax preferences from both the corporate and income tax code add up to a little over $1 trillion per year, explained Lim. So, there is more than enough revenue that could be raised from tax reform to meet the goal of reducing deficits by $4 trillion over 10 years. The difficulty, though, is that most of that revenue comes from tax preferences, sometimes called tax expenditures, enjoyed by many, thus members of Congress would be reluctant to get rid of them. more >>

President Barack Obama told Speaker of the House John Boehner Thursday that there would be no agreement to avert the "fiscal cliff" unless tax rates are increased on those making more than $250,000 per year. Boehner expressed concern that Democrats have shown no willingness to reduce the rate of growth in entitlement spending.

The two leaders at the center of the negotiations, Boehner and Obama, spoke for about minutes Wednesday night according to aides. In that conversation, Obama insisted on tax rate increases for those making more than $250,000 per year, according to Politico. Also, on Thursday, Boehner met for 45 minutes with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is leading the White House negotiations. Boehner emerged from those meetings skeptical that a deal could be reached.

"No substantive talks have been made in talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks," Boehner said in a press conference after the meeting with Geithner. more >>