Boehner reelected as Speaker; nine Republicans defect in vote  —  Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) was reelected Speaker of the House on Thursday after a week of rumors of a possible GOP revolt.  —  Boehner won a bare majority in a vote that saw nine Republicans vote for other GOP members …

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 …

Crime Is at its Lowest Level in 50 Years.  A Simple Molecule May Be the Reason Why.  —  I've written several posts recently about the idea that America's great crime epidemic, which started in the 60s and peaked in the early 90s, was caused in large part by lead emissions from automobiles.

Geithner Said to Plan Departure Before Debt Ceiling Deal  —  Geithner Said to Plan Exit Before Debt Talks  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven't reached an agreement …

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.

Ten People We Are Grateful Are No Longer Members Of Congress  —  Under the Twentieth Amendment, “[t]he terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January.”

Andrew Sullivan's Ad-Free Publishing Experiment Sees Six-Figure Revenue In First Six Hours  —  When political blogger Andrew Sullivan announced this morning that he's leaving The Daily Beast and launching an independent company called Dish Publishing, the most provocative bit of news was his intended business model.

The culture war is over, and conservatives lost  —  It's time we conservatives accepted an alarming truth: Americans no longer agree with us  —  L  —  ate last year, I criticized the notion that Barack Obama won re-election by buying off voters with “gifts.”

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” …

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 …

Developments in Financial Markets and the Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet  —  The Manager of the System Open Market Account (SOMA) reported on developments in domestic and foreign financial markets during the period since the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met on October 23-24, 2012.

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 …

Op-Ed: Harry Reid's filibuster plan and the Supreme Court  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has announced he will begin the new Congress today by violating Senate rules and forcing through a set of procedural changes that will undermine Senate conservatives' ability to influence legislation.

Republicans Open New Congress Slamming “Lapdog” Democrats With Corgis  —  “Nancy Pelosi's Obedience School.”  —  Image by Joshua Roberts / Reuters  —  WASHINGTON — House Republicans Thursday are rolling partisan welcome mat for newly elected Democrats, circulating a tongue-in-cheek guide …

Google Agrees to Change Its Business Practices to Resolve FTC Competition Concerns In the Markets for Devices Like Smart Phones, Games and Tablets, and in Online Search  —  Landmark Agreements Will Give Competitors Access to Standard-Essential Patents; Advertisers Will Get More Flexibility to Use Rival Search Engines

Major step: Kirk returns to Senate  —  After suffering a debilitating stroke a year ago, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk returned to Congress Thursday.  —  WASHINGTON —  Keeping a pledge he made last spring, Sen. Mark Kirk climbed the Capitol steps on Thursday to mark his return almost a year after suffering a major stroke.