Naked Protesters Occupy John Boehner's House Office  —  (Image Credit: Susan Walshe / AP Photo)  —  Some protesters dropped trou to launch a protest at House Speaker John Boehner's office in the Longworth House Office building in Washington.  —  U.S. Capitol Police public information …

Students Told to Disavow ‘American-ness, maleness, whiteness, heterosexuality’  —  A political science professor at Butler University asks students to disregard their “American-ness, maleness, whiteness, heterosexuality, middle-class status” when writing and speaking in the classroom …

Reasons to be encouraged about fiscal cliff's endgame  —  Now this is encouraging.  I'm told that representatives of major unions and progressive groups met privately this morning with senior Obama administration officials at the White House — and were pleased with what they heard.

My Secretary of State  —  President Obama is assembling his new national security team, with Senator John Kerry possibly heading for the Pentagon and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice the perceived front-runner to become secretary of state.  Kerry is an excellent choice for defense.

When Work Is Punished: The Tragedy Of America's Welfare State  —  Exactly two years ago, some of the more politically biased progressive media outlets (who are quite adept at creating and taking down their own strawmen arguments, if not quite as adept at using an abacus, let alone a calculator) …

Cole: Join with Obama on quick deal  —  Republican Rep. Tom Cole urged colleagues in a private session Tuesday to vote to extend the Bush tax rates for all but the highest earners before the end of the year — and to battle over the rest later.  —  The Oklahoma Republican said in an interview …

Bolling to drop bid for Virginia governorship  —  Washington (CNN) - Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling will drop his bid for the Virginia governorship, CNN has confirmed, a move that clears a path to the Republican nomination for his primary opponent Ken Cuccinelli.

A Struggling CNN Worldwide Is Said to Be Drawn to Jeffrey Zucker  —  In the days to come, when Time Warner appoints a new leader of CNN Worldwide for the first time in a decade, that person will face an identity crisis unlike any other in corporate America.  —  Though CNN over all is on track …

OHIO SENATE PUTS END TO ‘HEARTBEAT’ ABORTION BILL  —  You are here  —  Home » Julie Carr » Ohio Senate puts end to ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The leader of the Ohio Senate put a stop Tuesday to a bill that would have imposed the most stringent restriction on abortions in the nation.

Obama quietly signs bill shielding airlines from carbon fees in Europe  —  President Obama has signed into law a bill that requires U.S. airlines be excluded from European carbon emissions fees.  —  Environmentalists had framed the bill as the first test of the president's commitment …

Who Will Be the Next Treasury Secretary?  This Guy!  —  President Obama walks with White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew in March on the South Lawn of the White House  —  I was considering doing a post with chin-stroking speculation about who the next Treasury secretary will be, but instead let me just tell you.

How much would you pay for 1 hour with Sandra Fluke?  —  EXCLUSIVE: Sandra Fluke, noted advocate for government-subsidized birth control, is auctioning off one hour of her time for an online “strategy session” at the site BiddingForGood.com.  —  According to the auction page …

KYL, HUTCHISON PROPOSE ACHIEVE ACT  —  ADDRESSES LEGAL STATUS OF UNDOCUMENTED YOUNG PEOPLE  —  HOME / PRESS OFFICE / PRESS RELEASES  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) have introduced legislation they believe will provide a basis …

Harry Reid puts his finger on the ‘nuclear option’ button  —  So here's today's update in the slow, inexorable march towards filibuster reform: Democrats took yet another step in the direction of changing the rules by a simple majority vote — i.e., exercising the dreaded “nuclear option.”

Alan Simpson hopes Grover Norquist drowns in bathtub  —  Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wy.), one of the co-chairmen of the president's debt commission, joked Tuesday that he would like to see anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist drown in a bathtub.  —  The comment was a play on Norquist's famous statement …

AP EXCLUSIVE: GRAPH SUGGESTS IRAN WORKING ON BOMB  —  You are here  —  Home » Vienna » AP Exclusive: Graph suggests Iran working on bomb … VIENNA (AP) — Iranian scientists have run computer simulations for a nuclear weapon that would produce more than triple the explosive force …

Federal Student Lending Swells  —  The federal lending program designed to make college education available to everyone is creating a pile of debt so large it is fanning worries that it has become too easy to borrow too much.  —  U.S. student-loan debt rose by $42 billion, or 4.6% …

Blacks fret free-for-all for Jesse Jackson Jr. seat  —  Black leaders are growing increasingly worried that a white candidate might seize the seat of former Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson in the upcoming Illinois special election.  —  With a host of black candidates announcing their intention …

Bob Dole, 89, hospitalized at Walter Reed  —  Updated 5:23 p.m. Eastern Time  —  Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee and longtime leader of Senate Republicans, has been hospitalized at Walter Reed Hospital, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Tuesday.

Regarding Saxby Chambliss  —  Saxby Chambliss is waffling around like a dog off its leash for the first time.  —  He says he does not care about a “twenty year old pledge” he signed.  He's talking about the Americans for Tax Reform pledge that says he pledges not to raise taxes.

For Latino Groups, Grass-Roots Efforts Paid Off in Higher Number of Voters  —  MIAMI — On Election Day, President Obama got 71 percent of the Latino vote nationally because, in the end, Latinos preferred his message over Mitt Romney's.  —  But how Latinos got that message …

James Bond and the new sex appeal  —  In the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall,” Daniel Craig takes off his shirt and examines his wounds.  There appear to be two of them — small holes on his skin from bullets fired at the beginning of the movie.  He touches his wounds and winces.