Topsy-turvy Hagel politics  —  President Obama wants to get credit for bipartisanship, so he picks a Republican defense secretary who will garner few if any Republican votes.  He walks away from a politically loyal African American woman for secretary of state (whose nomination would open …

The Education of John Boehner  —  Leverage for the next clash: GOP willingness to let the spending sequester take effect.  —  What stunned House Speaker John Boehner more than anything else during his prolonged closed-door budget negotiations with Barack Obama was this revelation …

Man ID'd as Rand Paul's son arrested at airport  —  A teenager identified in several media outlets as the son of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and the grandson of former presidential candidate Ron Paul was arrested Saturday morning at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

The Outside Man  —  Yes, I've heard about the notion that I should be nominated as Treasury Secretary.  I'm flattered, but it really is a bad idea.  —  Part of the reason is that I am indeed the World's Worst Administrator — and that does matter.  Someone else can do the paperwork …

Be Ready To Mint That Coin  —  Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default?  Yes, absolutely.  He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that's silly but benign, the other that's equally silly but both vile and disastrous.

The Big Fail  —  It's that time again: the annual meeting of the American Economic Association and affiliates, a sort of medieval fair that serves as a marketplace for bodies (newly minted Ph.D.'s in search of jobs), books and ideas.  And this year, as in past meetings …

The conservative movement is still an elaborate moneymaking venture  —  The story of FreedomWorks' big Glenn Beck payout encapsulates the right-wing media  —  The conservative media movement exists primarily as a moneymaking venture.  As Rick Perlstein explained in the Baffler …

Hagel's Mideast blunder-not on Israel  —  More disturbing to some conservatives, he opposed President Bush's 2007 troop surge in Iraq.  The surge and its accompanying shift in strategy did help significantly tamp down the violence in Iraq and allowed, five years later, for a dignified U.S. exit.

Christie looks ahead to big victory in 2013, reflects on how Sandy changed him  —  Governor Chris Christie during a one-on-one interview with The Star-Ledger in his inner office at the Statehouse.  (Photo by Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)  —  TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie doesn't want to settle …

CASTING VOTES  —  Here's a safe prediction for 2013: few people will pine for the Presidential campaign of 2012.  Even Barack Obama's most ardent supporters acknowledge that his victory provided little of the euphoria of four years ago.  Not many Republicans have longed to hear …