Barney Frank: I want to be senator  —  Barney Frank, one day out of Congress, said on Friday that he has asked Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to send him back as an interim senator when Sen. John Kerry becomes secretary of state.  —  “A month ago, or a few weeks ago, I said I wasn't interested,” Frank said on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.”

Gingrich warns Boehner could have ‘disaster on his hands’  —  Newt Gingrich warned Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that he risks losing control of his conference without a more coherant strategy.  —  “He can't keep thinking the way he's thought the last few months without having a disaster on his hands …

First Day of 113th Congress Brings More Women to Capitol  —  WASHINGTON — As the 113th Congress opens, the Senate and the House are starting to look a little bit more like the people they represent.  —  The new Congress includes a record number of women (101 across both chambers …

No, a $1 Trillion Platinum Coin is Not Legal  —  For some reason, the possibility of evading the debt ceiling by minting a $1 trillion platinum coin is getting some blogospheric love again.  This is based on a 2000 revision to the U.S. statute on money and finance that reads:

Workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal  —  Middle-class workers will take a bigger hit to their income proportionately than those earning between $200,000 and $500,000 under the new fiscal cliff deal, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

Can We Avert The Coming Debt Ceiling Crisis With A Magic Coin? … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Barack Obama , Deficit, Debt Ceiling, Eat The Press, GOP, House Republicans, Deficit, Economy, Jerrold Nadler, Video, Debt Limit, Debt, Debt Ceiling Coin, Debt Ceiling Platinum Coin, Fiscal Cliff …

Battles of the Budget  —  The centrist fantasy of a Grand Bargain on the budget never had a chance.  Even if some kind of bargain had supposedly been reached, key players would soon have reneged on the deal — probably the next time a Republican occupied the White House.

Biden: Republicans had ‘epiphany’ on immigration  —  Washington (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden said Republicans have had a major realization in their approach to immigration reform in recent weeks.  —  “Have you ever seen a time when Republicans have had a more rapid epiphany about immigration than they have this last election?”

US economy adds 155K jobs, rate stays at 7.8 pct.  —  US economy adds 155,000 jobs in December, unemployment rate stays at 7.8 percent  —  Associated PressBy Christopher s.  Rugaber, AP Economics Writer |  Associated Press - 2013-01-04T14:27:06Z  —  WASHINGTON (AP) …

Gore Went to Bat for Al Jazeera, and Himself  —  Al Gore at the Current TV studios in San Francisco in 2005.  He said Al Jazeera's coverage was “thorough, fair and informative.”  —  Al Gore's Current TV was never popular with viewers, but it was a hit where it counted: with cable and satellite providers.

HHS approves healthcare exchanges in 8 states  —  Eight more states won conditional approval Thursday to operate healthcare exchanges under President Obama's healthcare law.  —  California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Vermont and Utah will run state-based exchanges …

Chief Justice Roberts to Preside at Obama Swearing-In  —  WASHINGTON - President Obama's inaugural planning committee will announce this morning that - surprise!  - Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will deliver the oath of office to Mr. Obama when he is sworn in for a second term later this month.

Obama Signs Defense Bill, With Conditions  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama set aside his veto threat and on late Wednesday signed a defense bill that imposes restrictions on transferring detainees out of military prisons in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

How To Change Pop Culture's Reliance On Violence  —  When the Motion Picture Association of America on December 20 came out in support of President Obama's efforts on gun control in the wake of the Newtown, the organization simultaneously aligned itself with the productive side …

The 20 Most Annoying Liberals of 2012 (10th Annual)  —  Honorable Mentions: Bill Ayers, Bob Beckel, Joy Behar, Eric Boehlert, Margaret Cho, Candy Crowley, Code Pink, Lena Dunham, Dianne Feinstein, Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, Kathy Griffin, Eric Holder, Jesse Jackson, Ezra Klein, Rachel Maddow …

Too much leadership at the cliff  —  Bob Woodward (woodwardb@washpost.com) is an associate editor of The Post.  His latest book is “The Price of Politics.”  Evelyn Duffy contributed to this commentary.  —  The agreement on the “fiscal cliff” left the nation's major economic problems …

White House pushes forward on immigration ahead of bigger reform fight  —  The Obama administration's decision this week to ease visa requirements for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants represents its latest move to reshape immigration through executive action, even as the White House gears …