Mitt Romney builds case for inevitability  —  HANOVER, N.H - Hours after Chris Christie signaled he believes Mitt Romney is the Republican party's inevitable nominee, Romney and the rest of the GOP field went about proving him right.  —  Romney again outclassed the opposition in Tuesday's Bloomberg/Washington Post debate.

Obama's jobs plan blocked in Senate  —  President Obama received a slap from members of his own party Tuesday as the Senate voted 50-49 to block his $447 billion jobs package.  —  The jobs plan, which the president has spent much of the last month touting on a cross-country tour, fell well short of the 60 votes it needed to proceed.

U.S. Says Iran-Tied Terror Plot in Washington, D.C. Disrupted  —  FBI and DEA agents have disrupted a plot to commit a “significant terrorist act in the United States” tied to Iran, federal officials told ABC News today.  —  The officials said the plot included the assassination …

Cain defends 9-9-9 plan as not ‘off a pizza box’  —  Herman Cain defended the economic team behind his 9-9-9 tax plan but still refused to name his economic advisers.  —  “My advisers come from the American people,” Cain said Tuesday night at a debate sponsored by Bloomberg News and the Washington Post debt.

Occupy L.A. Speaker: Violence will be Necessary to Achieve Our Goals  —  Citizen journalist Ringo captured this speaker at the Occupy Los Angeles camp a few days ago letting the cat out of the bag: After dismissing nonviolence as a dead end, he admits that for the Occupiers to achieve their goals …

Obama: 'I'm a fourth-quarter player'  —  (CNN) - President Barack Obama compared his re-election bid to a game of basketball, to make the point to Democratic supporters that he's a strong closer.  —  The president made his comments Tuesday night at the second of two campaign fundraisers in Florida.

Police arrest scores of Occupy Boston protesters  —  Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino today defended the arrests of scores of Occupy Boston protesters in a section of the city's Greenway park, saying he agrees with them on the issues but they couldn't be allowed to “tie up the city.”

Family of Al Qaeda's Samir Khan Gets ‘Condolence Call’ From U.S. State Department  —  The U.S. State Department made a phone call to the family of Al Qaeda propagandist Samir Khan to offer the government's condolences on his death during a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, a department spokesman confirms.

Heartbreak for Huma as new messages reveal how Anthony Weiner called her parents ‘backwards thinking’ and compared her to his ‘sextees’ in vulgar messages  — Accused his successor Bob Turner of being ‘just another rich businessman trying to buy himself an election’

Wall Street's Gullible Occupiers  —  The protesters have been sold a bill of goods.  Reckless government policies, not private greed, brought about the housing bubble and resulting financial crisis.  —  There is no mystery where the Occupy Wall Street movement came from …

Clarence Thomas' Influence On The Supreme Court … Twenty years ago, Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the narrowest margin in 100 years.  He's the most conservative justice since the 1930s, and, in his passion for his own version of “original intent,” …

Michelle Obama often unrecognized  —  Michelle Obama says when she takes a trip to Target or Petco, she is often surprised that people don't even recognize her.  —  “It's amazing how people don't recognize you,” the first lady said in an interview that aired on NBC Wednesday morning.

Does Anyone Have a Grip on the G.O.P.?  —  It wasn't that long ago that Republican moneymen and operatives in Washington were moping around K Street like Eeyore in the Hundred Acre Wood, lamenting their party's extremist image and casting about for a candidate with a chance of beating Barack Obama in 2012.

Facing Cuts, a City Repeals Its Domestic Violence Law  —  TOPEKA, Kan. — The startling vote came up at a City Council meeting here on Tuesday, provoked by a run-of-the-mill budget dispute over services that had spun out of control: decriminalize domestic violence.