WASHINGTON -- Shortly before the Supreme Court agreed to rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare's individual mandate, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed, 2-1, its constitutionality. Writing for the majority, Judge Laurence Silberman, a Reagan appointee, brusquely acknowledged that upholding the mandate means there is no limit to Congress's powers under the Commerce Clause.

Though Obama "may lose control of Congress," says columnist David Broder, he "can still storm back to win a second term in 2012."

The end of the federal government’s fiscal year comes next Friday, and once again Congress is scrambling to fund all our agencies without suffering a government shutdown. The speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, learned Wednesday that this is not always as easy as it might seem.

As the week unfolded, it appeared that the last days of the lame-duck session of Congress might well end in gridlock. Many issues had been left to the last days, but certainly the biggest issue was whether the so-called "Bush tax cuts" would be extended for not only the "middle class," but for those fabulously wealthy individuals who have the audacity to earn more than $250,000 a year -- the "wealthy."