Franken Destoys Focus On The Family Witness, Exposes Misuse Of HHS Study  —  During this morning's Senate DOMA hearings, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) destroyed Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery's argument that children are better off with opposite-sex parents by demonstrating how Minnery misrepresented an HHS study.

Former Senator Judd Gregg Says Shutdown Needed Before House Will Agree To Debt Limit Deal  —  Former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) says Social Security checks will need to be halted before House Republicans will agree to a deal to raise the debt limit.  —  A deficit hawk and former Chairman …

House GOP Suicide Squad gets bigger  —  By late yesterday, the political world seemed to be feeling optimistic about the debt ceiling again.  The Gang of Six had made a lot of senators happy; President Obama seemed upbeat causing a sudden spike on Wall Street; and the House was wrapping …

Allen West Says He Apologized to Wasserman Schultz  —  Freshman Rep. Allen West said Wednesday that he has apologized to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for calling her “vile, unprofessional and despicable” in an email.  —  “I just apologized,” West (R-Fla.) told a Huffington Post reporter.

Larry Summers calls Winklevoss twins ‘A**holes’  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — What did Larry Summers really think of the Winklevoss twins?  —  “Rarely, have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in kind,” the former president of Harvard said in an interview at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference.

Pawlenty says WH hopefuls must be able do the job  —  Tim Pawlenty moved closer Wednesday to raising doubts about Michele Bachmann's fitness for office.  —  While repeating his previous comments that he'd defer to doctors on Bachmann's particular health situation, Pawlenty said broadly …

Business Roundtable praises Gang of Six plan, AFL-CIO rips it  —  The Gang of Six's bipartisan deficit-reduction plan continued to make waves Wednesday, with a key business group expressing general support and a prominent union bashing it.  —  In a statement issued Wednesday …

Never Before Seen: The ‘Inside Scoop’ on Some 2012 Presidential Contenders  —  On this week's edition of The Brody File show, some never before seen footage from my interviews with Sarah Palin, Speaker John Boehner, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann as we get the 'scoop" on some of their “personal preferences.

Anita Perry encourages husband to run for president  —  AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry will need money, organization, staff and stamina if he runs for president.  —  But he appears to already have the support that's most important for the race — his wife's.

Obama in perilous shape  —  For the first time since last July Barack Obama does not lead Mitt Romney in PPP's monthly national poll on the 2012 Presidential race.  Romney has now pulled into a tie with the President at 45%.  —  Obama's approval rating this month is 46% with 48% of voters disapproving of him.

Sarah Palin is going to be a grandmother again.  Eldest child Track Palin married high school sweetheart Britta Hanson two months ago, and now we hear that Britta is pregnant.  The picture above of “Britta Pie,” which was posted on a Wasilla friend's Facebook wall, confirms the news she's expecting.

Las Vegas resort sues tea party group over hotel bill  —  Some Tennessee tea partiers are in hot water with a Las Vegas gambling resort that's accusing them of skipping out on a big hotel bill.  —  On Monday Venetian Casino Resort, LLC., filed suit against Tea Party Nation Corporation of Franklin …

Exclusive: Fed planning for potential default  —  (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is actively preparing for the possibility that the United States could default as a deadline for raising the government's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit looms, a top Fed policymaker said on Wednesday.

NOM Rabbi Blames Gay Marriage For 8 Year Old's Murder  —  The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) recently invited Rabbi Yehuda Levin to join them at a rally protesting New York's same sex marriage bill, despite Levin's long history of offensive comments.

Numbers Don't Lie: “The Undefeated” Had a Remarkable Box Office Debut  —  Box Office Mojo is a universally accepted and respected source for box-office numbers, mainly because they've always done a very professional job of sticking to numbers and avoiding the business and political nonsense that tarnishes so many others.

Why I foam-pied Rupert Murdoch |  Jonnie Marbles  —  Some people might think my action played into Murdoch's hands, but I did it for all the people who couldn't  —  First things first: I don't hate octogenarians.  I don't have a vendetta against anyone over 80 who likes to begrudgingly give evidence to parliamentary committees.

Report: Private sector job creation ground to a halt almost instantly after Obamacare passed  —  A new report out yesterday from The Heritage Foundation shows private sector job creation dropped dramatically almost immediately after President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) into law.

Martin Sheen: Time for President Bartlet to March Down Pennsylvania Avenue Again  —  ABC News' Sherisse Pham (@sherisse) reports: Martin Sheen was on Capitol Hill Tuesday, just in time to witness the partisan gridlock over the country's debt and budget.  In an interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl …