Giffords and Kelly: Fighting gun violence  —  Our new campaign will launch a national dialogue and raise funds to counter influence of the gun lobby.  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  — The children of Sandy Hook deserve our efforts to stop gun violence.  —  In response to a horrific series …

Why Hagel Was Picked  —  Americans don't particularly like government, but they do want government to subsidize their health care.  They believe that health care spending improves their lives more than any other public good.  In a Quinnipiac poll, typical of many others …

Congress somewhere below cockroaches, traffic jams, and Nickelback in Americans' esteem  —  Our newest national poll finds that Congress only has a 9% favorability rating with 85% of voters viewing it in a negative light.  We've seen poll after poll after poll over the last year talking …

My Successor?  Mayor Ponders Dream Choices  —  It has been a bedrock assumption of this year's race for New York City mayor: Michael R. Bloomberg and the muscular political operation that guided him to three electoral victories will coalesce around his favored candidate, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker.

Rescued by a Bailout, A.I.G. May Sue Its Savior  —  Fresh from paying back a $182 billion bailout, the American International Group has been running a nationwide advertising campaign with the tagline “Thank you America.”  —  Behind the scenes, the restored insurance company is weighing whether …

Moderate Republican group to remove ‘Republican’ from name, welcome Democrats  —  The Republican Main Street Partnership, a Washington-based group that has promoted moderate GOP lawmakers and policies, will remove the word “Republican” from its title and welcome center-right Democrats in 2013, Yahoo News has learned.

Judge Limits a Police Stop-and-Frisk Program in the Bronx  —  A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the New York Police Department's practice of stopping people suspected of trespassing outside private buildings in the Bronx was unconstitutional.  —  The decision appears …

Widow of Medgar Evers to deliver invocation at Obama inauguration  —  President Obama has picked Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights icon Medgar Evers, to deliver the invocation at his public swearing-in later this month.  It is believed to be the first time a woman …

Florida Governor Inflates Cost Of Medicaid Expansion By 2,600% To Avoid Implementing Obamacare  —  Internal email messages uncovered by Health News Florida reveal that Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) is knowingly citing inaccurate cost estimates to justify his refusal to expand Florida's Medicaid program.

Current situation: Staffers talk about first meeting with Al Jazeera  —  Just call him Al Gorezeera.  —  Yesterday morning, the still shell shocked staff at Current TV was called to an all hands staff meeting at its San Francisco headquarters, which was teleconferenced to their offices in LA and NYC, to meet their new bosses.

Republicans getting weak-kneed about debt ceiling fight  —  House Speaker John Boehner spoke at length with the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore about the coming confrontation over the debt ceiling, the sequester, and the spending cuts Republicans will try to achieve.

Obama's failure to nominate women for two top Cabinet posts questioned  —  President Obama brought his top Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency chiefs together Monday with their potential replacements, and some critics noticed one thing that stood out: Each of them was a white man.

Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal Fire Back at ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Investigation and Torture Debate  —  In accepting awards at the New York Film Critics Circle ceremony, the director and screenwriter addressed critics in Congress and the world of punditry.  —  As they received trophies in New York City …

Watchdog: Second VA official quits after wasteful conferences spotlighted  —  Another top Department of Veterans Affairs official has resigned in the wake of Inspector-General reports criticizing two “Patton parody” employee training conferences, The Washington Examiner

Hagel and the Jews  —  A friend and admirer of Senator Hagel called the other day to ask whether we'd ever met the nominee to be secretary of defense.  We expressed our regrets that we hadn't.  Our friend wanted us to know that Mr. Hagel does not dislike the Jews.

Mosbacher: I'm Furious at My Own Party  —  RNC Finance Committee co-chair Georgette Mosbacher tells Michelle Cottle that she's “mad as hell” about what Republicans have done to themselves.  —  Best not to ask GOP fundraising legend Georgette Mosbacher about the state of her beloved party unless you want an earful.

Liz Warren won't beat drum  —  After touting her heritage ...  Despite repeated claims she is “proud” of her Cherokee heritage, newly minted U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is keeping that pride under wraps and won't be taking advantage of a chance to officially list herself as the Bay State's first Native American U.S. senator.

Hints of Syrian Chemical Push Set Off Global Effort to Stop It  —  WASHINGTON — In the last days of November, Israel's top military commanders called the Pentagon to discuss troubling intelligence that was showing up on satellite imagery: Syrian troops appeared to be mixing chemicals at two storage sites …