New Republican Rep. Allen West — a real piece of work whom we'll be mentioning regularly from now on — has joined the Congressional Black Caucus, making him the first Republican to do so since 1996. Next step: the presidency.

The new year has arrived and it is awful, what with bird/fish/crab death, floods, freezing temperatures, and zombie ex-Vice Presidents. So let's just put it all out there and list the reasons why this is already the worst year ever.

Going into today's congressional transfer of power, most observers expected that new Speaker John Boehner would have to wrest the leader's gavel from Nancy Pelosi's death grip. But she handed it over, after a pleasantly batty speech. Congratulations, John Boehner!

The new Republican House majority will be sworn in tomorrow, the start of the 112th Congress. Have you bought a dress yet? You'll want to look good as you watch tomorrow's events on John Boehner's Facebook, from your cubicle.

It is, sadly, the final day of orientation for freshmen congressional Republicans. Boo! Hopefully they all got laid at least once. But if not, tonight's the night, because the freshmen are throwing the most lavish kegger of all, for themselves.

Tonight, The Daily Show returned from hiatus with an opening segment about President Obama's recent legislative victories under fire. During it, Jon Stewart compared Obama to Star Wars' Luke Skywalker, before many subsequent—and equally awesome—trilogy-related references. Watch inside.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, an ex-congressman, says he "may feel the need to run for office again" if the "absence of leadership" among Washington dingbats worsens. Obviously if he ran for anything, the country would be saved within minutes.

Republicans will only control one chamber of Congress next year, giving them little means of dismantling the "Obama Agenda." But after wading through Congress' history of old rules, they may have discovered a way to stifle the executive branch's power.

The Senate: It actually functioned in the past week! But that was only after election pressure on moderate Republicans died down. Endless Republican obstruction will continue next year, more painfully. Will Democrats dare to change the "sacrosanct" Senate rules?

Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) appeared on Fox News today to discuss the DADT repeal. Among other idiotic statements, Akin declared that the repeal was unnecessary because gay soldiers can serve now... as long as their "gayness" doesn't interfere. Watch inside.

Sen. Tom Coburn has dropped his objections to the 9/11 first responders bill, allowing Dems to circumvent procedural roadblocks and pass it quickly this afternoon.

Hey! Looks like we'll still have a government till March 4, at least.

The first major findings from the 2010 census are in, and America has a population of 308,745,538, give or take a few. That's a 9.7% increase over the last decade. What else does the data tell us?

After messing it up the first time around, the Senate has passed its big food safety bill.

JibJab's become known for their funny/relevant "Year in Review" videos, so I'm pleased to announce that 2010's version—featuring puppets of President Obama and Vice President Biden singing a lamentation of the sh*tty year that was—doesn't disappoint. Watch inside.

The Senate today repealed the US military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of barring openly gay servicemembers from the armed forces by a vote of 65 to 31. President Obama only needs to sign it. [TPM]

It was Sen. Bob Corker's turn to take hostages today with this latest "threat": If Democrats bring the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" repeal and DREAM Act to votes tomorrow, as expected, then Republicans may kill the START treaty. Huh?

The House of Representatives just approved the $858 billion tax package brokered between Republicans and President Obama! How will Americans in the lowest, highest, and median income brackets be spending that money? We break it down in a handy chart.

A lot happened in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night! In the House, representatives passed President Obama's huge tax package, while in the Senate, Republicans embarrassed Democrats, again. Let's take a look at the fortunate and the unfortunate:

Jon Stewart blasted Republicans on Monday for blocking legislation to provide health care benefits to 9/11 first responders (video). Tonight—his last show of the year—Stewart continued his criticism of Congress and the media for ignoring the issue.