President Delivers a New Offer on the Fiscal Crisis to Boehner  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama delivered Speaker John A. Boehner a new offer on Monday to resolve the pending fiscal crisis — and what may be close to a final deal, which would raise revenues by $1.2 trillion over the next decade …

Cerberus Capital Management Statement Regarding Freedom Group, Inc.  —  We were shocked and deeply saddened by the events that took place at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012.  We cannot comprehend the losses suffered by the families and friends of those killed …

Thoughts on the Chained CPI, Social Security, and the Budget  —  According to reliable sources, the Obama administration is seriously contemplating a deal under which the annual cost of living adjustment for Social Security benefits would be indexed to the chained consumer price index rather …

Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos  —  In its first big policy shift since Facebook bought the photo-sharing site, Instagram claims the right to sell users' photos without payment or notification.  Oh, and there's no way to opt out.  —  Instagram said today …

Richard Engel and NBC News team freed from captors in Syria  —  Updated at 8:15 a.m. ET: NBC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and members of his network production team were freed from captors in Syria after a firefight at a checkpoint on Monday, five days after they were taken prisoner, NBC News said early Tuesday.

Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. senator, dies at 88  —  Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, a highly decorated World War II combat veteran who used his status as one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington and the second-longest-serving senator in history to send billions of dollars to his home islands …

Clinton And Kerry Get A Free Ride From The Press  —  Politics: Diplomacy involves considerable travel.  What it shouldn't include is free rides from both the media and political establishment.  But Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are getting just that as the guard changes at State.

South Carolina Lawmakers Propose 5-Year Jail Sentence for ‘Obamacare’ Implementation  —  Federal officials could face fines and jail terms under proposed legislation  —  Nullification is yet again picking up steam in Dixie.  —  Pursuing an archaic legal theory that punctuated pre-Civil War disputes between …

Booker Leaning Toward Senate Run  —  Popular Mayor Is Looking to Take Aim at Lautenberg Seat Instead of Challenging Gov. Chris Christie  —  Newark Mayor Cory Booker is leaning against jumping into next year's race for New Jersey governor and instead is having serious discussions about running …

IEA's Medium-Term Coal Market Report sees coal demand increasing in nearly every region of the world except US, where shale gas is displacing coal  —  Coal's share of the global energy mix continues to rise, and by 2017 coal will come close to surpassing oil as the world's top energy source …

Swift Boat Veterans Set To Give John Kerry A Pass  —  The group that helped sink his 2004 campaign grumbles, quietly.  “I was hoping that Ms. Rice would get the nomination,” says a Swiftboater.  —  Image by Joshua Roberts / Reuters  —  Leading figures in the controversial conservative group …

Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown  —  There were 18 random mass shootings in the 1980s, 54 in the 1990s, and 87 in the 2000s.  —  Has the rate of random mass shootings in the United States increased?  Over the past 30 years, the answer is definitely yes.  It is also true that the total U …