The buzz over the weekend was all about striking deals ahead of the year-end budget crunch. You don't need any insider info to know Pres. Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met Sunday. Both sides are mum on what sort of horses were being traded, but as of Monday the impasse continues.

If you missed it, late Friday the Supreme Court announced it would take up two separate gay marriage cases. That guarantees a landmark ruling sometime in 2013.

Emily Rooney parsed the biggest politics headlines on Politics as Usual.

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