The Real Reason Republicans Hate Hagel  —  It has more to do with President Obama than the former senator from Nebraska.  —  It's good news that President Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense, despite the frantic campaign against him that's been mounted by certain Republicans.

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 …

John Brennan tapped to lead CIA  —  President Barack Obama will announce Monday that he's nominating the White House's point person on counterterrorism, John Brennan, to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, White House officials told POLITICO.

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.

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 …

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 …

After Pinpointing Gun Owners, Paper Is a Target  —  WHITE PLAINS — Local newspapers across the country look for stories that will bring them national attention, but The Journal News, a daily nestled in a wooded office park in a suburb north of New York, may have gotten more than it bargained for.

Booker says he has ‘deep respect and love’ for Lautenberg  —  (CNN) - Democratic Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, who announced intentions to explore a U.S. Senate bid in 2014, said he hasn't yet spoken with Sen. Frank Lautenberg about whether the longtime Democratic senator plans to run for re-election next year.

Delaware Town Takes Down Anti-Hispanic Signs After Public Outrage  —  The small community of Milford, Delaware took swift action over the weekend after a barrage of criticism over signs posted in several public parks that appeared to be anti-Hispanic.  —  A Daily Kos blogger documented …

Tea Party Senator: 'I Don't Think What Washington Needs Is More Compromise'  —  For the last two years, Republicans in Congress have achieved new levels of obstructionism never before seen in Washington, passing fewer bills than any other session of Congress since such information began being recorded in the 1940s.