Club for Growth will punish members voting for Sandy flood aid  —  The conservative Club for Growth said Friday that it will punish House members who voted for a flood insurance measure aimed at helping pay for Hurricane Sandy's damage.  —  The Club will “key-vote” the measure, using it to compile an annual rating for each lawmaker.

Former NRA President Equates Gun Laws With Racism  —  Those looking for moderation and sensitivity in the gun control debate probably, by this point, know better than to look to the National Rifle Association.  —  But even by the standards of what we've heard from the NRA recently …

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.”

Pelosi Not Fazed by Photoshopped Pic of Dem Women  —  Thursday morning, as the 113th Congress prepared to be sworn into office, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held a photo opportunity on the steps of the House of Representatives with Democratic women from the caucus.

Americans Have Mixed Reaction to Fiscal Cliff Agreement  —  Democrats much more positive about agreement than Republicans  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have a decidedly mixed reaction to the “fiscal cliff” agreement reached by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama this week …

Congress Passes $9.7 Billion in Relief for Hurricane Sandy Victims  —  WASHINGTON — Under intense pressure from New York and New Jersey, Congress adopted legislation on Friday that would provide $9.7 billion to cover insurance claims filed by people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

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:

Al Jazeera in America  —  Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news network, has long wanted to gain a bigger American television audience, and it may have finally found a way to do that by buying Current TV.  But as the deal was being signed, Time Warner Cable announced it would immediately stop carrying Current …

Purity Culture Is Rape Culture  —  Indian women offer prayers for a gang rape victim at Mahatma Gandhi memorial in New Delhi.  —  Her intestines were removed because the six men used a rusty metal rod during the “rape.”  —  That fact—the rusty metal rod—is what's haunted …

Hagel likely to be nominated for Defense Secretary next week  —  Multiple sources on Capitol Hill and in key special-interest groups involved in national security issues say they have been told to be prepared for a Chuck Hagel nomination for Defense Secretary, either as early as Monday or perhaps more likely Tuesday of next week.

House rules aim to block controversial healthcare board's Medicare cuts  —  House Republicans signaled Thursday they will not follow rules in President Obama's healthcare law that were designed to speed Medicare cuts through Congress.  —  The House is set to vote Thursday afternoon on rules for the 113th Congress.

Hope and less change: Americans cringe at first paychecks of 2013; Stunned lib asks, ‘What happened?’  —  Happy New Year and happy payday!  Thank goodness our “lord and savior” Obama signed the fiscal cliff bill into law after proudly proclaiming, “Under this law, more than 98 percent …

Leading Environmental Activist's Blunt Confession: I Was Completely Wrong To Oppose GMOs  —  Anti-Monsanto activists in Germany in 2009  —  If you fear genetically modified food, you may have Mark Lynas to thank.  By his own reckoning, British environmentalist helped spur the anti-GMO movement …

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.

GOP scrambles to fix its primary problem  —  The disastrous 2012 election and embarrassing fiscal cliff standoff has brought forth one principal conclusion from establishment Republicans: They have a primary problem.  —  The intra-party contests, or threat thereof, have become the original sin …

Final Tally Shows Obama First Since '56 to Win 51% Twice  —  Eight weeks after the Nov. 6 presidential election, a revised vote count in New York shows that Barack Obama is the first president in more than five decades to win at least 51 percent of the vote twice.