SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect  —  Amid online protests that include major websites like Wikipedia blacking out their sites, a few co-sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress are defecting.  —  Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the bill, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday.

Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline  —  The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm's application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

Newt Gingrich: If Mitt Romney Wins South Carolina, It's Over … South Carolina Primary Election , South Carolina Primary Election 2012 , Politics News  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — Newt Gingrich came clean Tuesday afternoon, admitting that if he can't win this state's primary on Saturday …

Romney Caricatures Himself  —  Mitt Romney, in all likelihood, is going to walk away with his party's presidential nomination.  Yet from the standpoint of positioning himself for the general election, the primary season has been a disaster for him.  Romney's campaign has worked hard …

Mitt Romney Sent Millions to Mormon Church  —  Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney walks toward his campaign plane, Jan. 11, 2012 in Bedford, Mass. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)  —  Underscoring the prominent, if little discussed role that Mitt Romney played …

Recess appointments might not hold  —  Some legal experts, including those who have sided with President Obama on other constitutional issues, think there is a good chance the courts could overturn his recent recess appointments.  —  Legal experts said courts could invalidate Obama's appointments …

For Gingrich, an Endorsement of Sorts From Sarah Palin  —  ON THE NEWT GINGRICH PRESS BUS, Interstate 20, S.C. — Sarah Palin, who conducted a lengthy flirtation with a run for the Republican nomination last year, ended the equally lengthy speculation over which candidate she would endorse by naming Newt Gingrich — sort of.

Obama's not-so-super PAC  —  Last spring, Sean Sweeney — a co-founder of Priorities USA Action, Barack Obama's not-so-super super PAC — rode an elevator up to a donor's office atop a Chicago skyscraper, hoping to ride down with a big check.  —  His pitch: Sure, Obama has made a career …

Why Does Buffalo Pay for Its Teachers to Have Plastic Surgery?  —  How a broken collective bargaining system has kept a ridiculous, multimillion-dollar perk alive.  —  In Buffalo, New York, the heart of the American rust-belt, the public school system pays for its teachers to get plastic surgery.

Why They Stood and Cheered  —  Gingrich confronts the left's insidious theory of racial supremacy.  —  Bye-Ku for Jon Huntsman  —  Call me crazy, but  —  I think insulting voters  —  Will warm them to me  —  The live-audience reaction to Republican presidential debates is a matter …

Did Rick Santorum Win the Iowa Caucuses, Not Mitt Romney?  —  Incorrect precinct numbers from one Iowa town, and a 20-vote misallocation to Mitt Romney, casts his eight-vote victory in question—along with his claim to be the only candidate to win both Iowa and New Hampshire.

‘Occupy’ protesters suspected of throwing smoke bomb over White House fence  —  WASHINGTON - The Secret Service was responding Tuesday night to an escalating protest that may have involved one or more smoke bombs being thrown over the White House fence.  —  An estimated 1,000 protesters have gathered.

Big-City Mayors Press for Same-Sex Marriage Rights  —  The mayors of several big cities, including Chicago, New York, Boston and Los Angeles, are joining together to support same-sex marriage rights, a move that could put additional pressure on President Barack Obama to do the same.