“My Message is Simple”: Obama's SOTU Written at 8th Grade Level for Third Straight Year  —  Obama's SOTU addresses have the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score of any modern president; Obama owns three of the six lowest-scoring addresses since FDR  —  For the third consecutive State of the Union Address …

Pelosi On A Gingrich Presidency: “That Will Never Happen”  —  John King, CNN: “You make your case there passionately for President Obama.  But also understand that this is a tough reelection climate for any president, Democrat or Republican in this economy.

Is Florida Still in Play for Republicans?  —  Only nine months from Election Day, Latino voters — the nation's fastest-growing voting bloc — favor President Obama over all the Republican candidates by a wide margin, according to a new poll conducted by Latino Decisions for Univision News and ABC News …

American hostage in Somalia rescued by US Navy SEALs in overnight raid  —  WASHINGTON — In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address  —  Washington, D.C.  —  THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:  —  Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq.

What really happened in the Gingrich ethics case?  —  The Romney campaign has been hitting Newt Gingrich hard over the 1990s ethics case that resulted in the former Speaker being reprimanded and paying a $300,000 penalty.  Before the Iowa caucuses, Romney and his supporting super PAC …

Obama's Schneiderman Gambit: Financial Fraud Unit Appears Designed to Fail, Grease Skids for Foreclosure Fraud Settlement  —  I'll pepper in my thoughts on the State of the Union Address throughout the day, but I would be remiss if I didn't start with the announcement of a Unit on Mortgage Origination …

Updating our privacy policies and terms of service  —  In just over a month we will make some changes to our privacy policies and Google Terms of Service.  This stuff matters, so we wanted to explain what's changing, why and what these changes mean for users.  —  First, our privacy policies.

Newt slams Romney's ‘world of Swiss bank accounts’  —  Via Ginger Gibson in Miami — if you thought the tax return issue was over and done with, think again:

APNewsBreak: Michele Bachmann says to seek 4th term in Congress after failed presidential bid  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid.  —  Bachmann declared her plans in an interview with The Associated Press.

Happy Birthday to Egypt's Doomed Revolution  —  Exactly one year ago today, I stood in front of the Lawyers Syndicate in downtown Cairo and watched as a few thousand protesters suddenly streamed into the area from the north, overwhelmed Egypt's notoriously violent riot police, and pushed onward towards Tahrir Square.

State Department slams GOP bill to force Keystone approval  —  The State Department is bashing House GOP legislation to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.  —  The legislation, which Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) is pushing, “imposes narrow time constraints and creates automatic mandates …

EXCLUSIVE: Romney Profited From Mortgage Lenders Foreclosing On Thousands Of Floridians  —  A ThinkProgress examination of Mitt Romney's presidential personal financial disclosures from May 2011 reveal that the former Massachusetts governor and his wife own or owned millions of dollars worth …