Time Warner Cable Drops Current TV Upon Sale To Al Jazeera … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Al Jazeera, Current TV, Al Jazeera Buys Current, Al Jazeera Current, Al Jazeera Current Tv, Calderone: The Backstory, Time Warner Al Jazeera, Time Warner Cable Current TV, Time Warner Cable Drops Al Jazeera …

Boehner tells GOP he's through negotiating one-on-one with Obama  —  Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is signaling that at least one thing will change about his leadership during the 113th Congress: he's telling Republicans he is done with private, one-on-one negotiations with President Obama.

Obama's debt problem  —  President Barack Obama won't be able to enjoy much of a victory lap from his win over congressional Republicans on the fiscal cliff fight.  —  There are about 16.4 trillion reasons why.  —  The staggering national debt — up about 60 percent from the $10 trillion Obama inherited …

Leave It Alone; It's Irrelevant to the Deficit  —  Dean Baker, an economist and the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, is the author of “The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive.”  —  Millions of people are rightly outraged to hear that Social Security …

House GOP Lets Violence Against Women Act Passed By Senate Die Without A Vote … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Eric Cantor, Patty Murray, GOP, Video, Women's Rights, Eric Cantor Vawa, Patty Murray Vawa, The Violence Against Women Act, Vawa, Vawa 2012, Vawa Reauthorization, Vawa Reauthorization 2012 …

Meet the New Class: The Senate Swears in a Historic 20 Female Senators  —  Today the Senate will make history, swearing in a record-breaking 20 female senators - 4 Republicans and 16 Democrats - in office.  —  As the 113th Congress is sworn in today on Capitol Hill, ABC “World News” …

Moody's: Credit Rating At Risk If U.S. Doesn't Address Deficit  —  Steven Hess, a Moody's senior vice president, said in a statement: … Hess added:

Obama signs ‘fiscal cliff’ bill using autopen  —  President Obama on Wednesday signed legislation that raises taxes on the wealthiest Americans and avoids the so-called “fiscal cliff,” which threatened to send the economy into decline.  —  The White House said late Wednesday that Obama reviewed …

Hand back the Falkland Islands, says Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in blistering open letter attack on British ‘colonialism’  —  Fernandez launched a fierce attack on British “colonialism” and demanded the return of “Las Malvinas”, in a letter published as an advert

Good Riddance to Rottenest Congress in History  —  On January 3rd, the 112th Congress of the United States of America finally ends.  Thank God.  —  To properly evaluate the 112th, consider the record of its predecessor, the 111th Congress, which ran from January 2009 to January 2011.

Fiscal cliff deal not great, but it shields Americans from tax hike  —  Editor's note: This op/ed is by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.  —  The first day of a new Congress always represents a fresh start.  This year, it also presents a perfect opportunity to tackle …

Crony Capitalist Blowout  —  A tax increase for everyone but the favored wealthy few.  —  In praising Congress's huge new tax increase, President Obama said Tuesday that “millionaires and billionaires” will finally “pay their fair share.”  That is, unless you are a Nascar track owner …

Congress gives out end-of-year perks to interest groups  —  CONGRESS, APPARENTLY, couldn't end the year without showering billions on a handful of interest groups, some of which you probably didn't even know existed.  —  The Post's Brad Plumer points out that the “fiscal cliff” …

What's Inside America's Banks?  —  Some four years after the 2008 financial crisis, public trust in banks is as low as ever.  Sophisticated investors describe big banks as “black boxes” that may still be concealing enormous risks—the sort that could again take down the economy.

Milky Way Contains At Least 100 Billion Planets, New Analysis Finds  —  The Milky Way contains at least 100 billion planets, or enough to have one for each of its stars, and many of them are likely to be capable of supporting conditions favorable to life, according to a new estimate from scientists …

FBI: Record number of gun background checks  —  The FBI reported a record-high number of background checks for firearms purchases in the month of December, in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.  —  According to a report from the FBI's National Instant …