Politics

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D.C. Council chairman Kwame Brown speaks Sept. 12, 2011, with staff members of The Washington Times in Washington, D.C. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/ The Washington Times)

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In this photo taken Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, a Somali government soldier provides security for visiting media near Dolo in Somalia. (AP Photo/Jason Straziuso)

**FILE** Republican presidential candidates (from left) former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, businessman Herman Cain, Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum prepare Nov. 12, 2011, before the CBS News/National Journal foreign policy debate in Spartanburg, S.C. (Associated Press)

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D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, at center, announces the appointment of Pedro Ribeiro, left, to the mayor's head of communications and Sheila Bunn to deputy chief of staff, replacing Linda Wharton-Boyd, who was moved to the District's Department of Health, during a press conference. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/ The Washington Times)

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Rep. Kim Seon-dong of the opposition Democratic Labor Party (center bottom) is blocked Nov. 22, 2011, by a security officer as National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa (center seated) covers his face after Kim exploded tear gas to try to block the passage of a bill on ratification of a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement at the National Assembly in Seoul. (Associated Press)

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Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks Nov. 21, 2011, at a town meeting at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (Associated Press)

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President Barack Obama makes a statement at the White House after the congressional debt supercommittee failed to reach an agreement on debt reduction on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, front left, speaks with Mehmet Gormez, head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, after a meeting with African Muslim religious leaders in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Nov. 21. 2011. (AP Photo)

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** FILE ** Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom celebrates with left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) after Backstrom scored on Phoenix Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera during the third period of an NHL game in Washington on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. The Capitals won 4-3. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

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READY TO FIGHT: Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, says recent elections sent a message: "You cannot turn your back on the middle class." (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Dennis Van Roekel is president of the National Education Association. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta works around the clock and does some of his best thinking outside Washington, a government official says. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)

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Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has no plans to curtail his trips to Monterey, Calif. "That's where his family lives, after all," a senior aide said. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner announced new sanctions against Iran on Monday for the purpose of pressuring Tehran to halt its suspected nuclear weapons program. The Treasury Department also named the Central Bank of Iran as a primary money-laundering "concern." (Associated Press)

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Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican, on Monday hails GM's announcement that it will begin building the Chevrolet Equinox at its idled Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., next year. (Associated Press)

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Pedro Ribeiro, Mayor Vincent Gray's new head of communications, right, speaks at a press conference with Mayor Gray, from left, and Sheila Bunn, the mayor's new deputy chief of staff, replacing Linda Wharton-Boyd, who was moved to the District's Department of Health, at the mayor's office in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 21, 2011. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/ The Washington Times)

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Linda Wharton-Boyd, who was moved to the District's Department of Health, speaks at a press conference after D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray announces the appointment of Pedro Ribeiro to the mayor's head of communications and Sheila Bunn to deputy chief of staff, replacing Wharton-Boyd during a press conference at the mayor's office in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 21, 2011. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/ The Washington Times)

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Pedro Ribeiro, Mayor Vincent Gray's new head of communications, left, and Sheila Bunn, the mayor's new deputy chief of staff, replacing Linda Wharton-Boyd, who was moved to the District's Department of Health, talks with the press following a press conference at the mayor's office in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 21, 2011. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/ The Washington Times)

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D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, at center, announces the appointment of Pedro Ribeiro, left, to the mayor's head of communications and Sheila Bunn to deputy chief of staff, replacing Linda Wharton-Boyd, who was moved to the District's Department of Health, during a press conference at the mayor's office in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 21, 2011. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/ The Washington Times)