Not Even Close: 2012 Was Hottest Ever in U.S.  —  The numbers are in: 2012, the year of a surreal March heat wave, a severe drought in the Corn Belt and a huge storm that caused broad devastation in the Middle Atlantic States, turns out to have been the hottest year ever recorded in the contiguous United States.

Rage Against the Coin  —  (From Talking Points Memo).  —  Well, the trillion-dollar-coin thing — deal with the debt ceiling by exploiting a legal loophole to have the Treasury mint one or more large-denomination coins, deposit them at the Fed, and use the cash in the new account to pay bills — has really taken off.

Why can't Republicans enforce law against Harry Reid?  —  WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 11: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) arrrives for a weekly policy luncheon with Democratic members of the U.S. Senate December 11, 2012 in Washington, DC.  The U.S. Congress is still negotiating pending …

Alex Jones Fears For Life After Morgan Interview, Blames NYPD Or Bloomberg If 'We're Killed By Crackheads'  —  Moments after radio host Alex Jones taped an explosive interview with CNN host Piers Morgan, Jones took to YouTube where he expressed his fear that he would be harmed …

Lessons learned, Obama takes fights to Congress  —  Barack Obama is looking for a few good fights.  —  Obama, the same president who campaigned twice on breaking the cycle of conflict in Washington, sees the utility — even the necessity — of rattling Republican cages as he plunges …

Here Is a List of All the A**holes Handsome Law-Abiding Citizens Who Own Guns Some People in New York City  —  Last month, the Journal News sparked a firestorm of protest when it published a mappable database of every licensed gun owner in Westchester and Rockland counties, north of New York City.

The Deficit Reduction We Have Achieved So Far  —  Since the start of fiscal year 2011, President Barack Obama has signed into law approximately $2.4 trillion of deficit reduction for the years 2013 through 2022.  Nearly three-quarters of that deficit reduction is in the form of spending cuts …

FAU prof stirs controversy by disputing Newtown massacre  —  Gabby Giffords launches site to stop gun violence  —  A communication professor known for conspiracy theories has stirred controversary at Florida Atlantic University with claims that last month's Newtown, Conn. …

Al Gore's Oil-Fueled Al-Jazeera Deal Follows A String Of Green Energy Fiascos  —  Al Gore, chairman and co-founder of Current TV, and Joel Hyatt, executive vice chairman and co-founder of Current TV.  (Image credit: via @daylife)  —  Al-Jazeera, the anti-Israeli network funded by Qatar …

Chuck Hagel Expanded On ‘Aggressively Gay’ Slur In 1998  —  Then-Sen. Chuck Hagel's remark to the Omaha World-Herald in 1998 that Clinton ambassadorial nominee James Hormel was “openly, aggressively gay” was only a part of what Hagel told the paper about his opposition to Hormel's nomination.

D.C. attorney general's office to investigate display of ammunition magazine on TV  —  The decision on whether anyone should be prosecuted after “Meet the Press” host David Gregory appeared to hold a high-capacity ammunition magazine on national television now belongs to the District's Office …

Coalition misses 70 election pledges  —  David Cameron and Nick Clegg will on Wednesday publish a candid assessment of the Coalition's successes and failures that was excluded from its Mid-term Review, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.  —  A section of the document discusses how Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg could explain ‘broken pledges’

Call Time For Congress Shows How Fundraising Dominates Bleak Work Life … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Barney Frank, Congress, Video, Alcee Hastings, Congress Fundraising, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Call Time Congress, Campaign Fundraising, Congress Fundraising Calls …

Richard Ben Cramer, Writer of Big Ambitions, Dies at 62  —  It took time for “What It Takes” to become a classic.  —  A labor of six years and 1,047 pages, the book, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer, appeared in 1992 to mixed reviews.

Glenn Beck Relaunching The Blaze As Global Libertarian News Network  —  Beck takes a shot at Fox as he expands his news network with foreign bureaus and a new show.  “I consider myself a libertarian... I'm a lot closer to Penn Jillette than I am to Chuck Hagel.”

Apple Working on a Less-Expensive iPhone  —  Apple Inc. is working on a lower-end iPhone, according to people briefed on the matter, a big shift in corporate strategy as its supremacy in smartphones has slipped.  —  While Apple has explored such a device for years, the plan is progressing …

Some in administration push for only a few thousand U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014  —  Groups within the Obama administration are pushing to keep no more than a few thousand troops in Afghanistan after 2014, U.S. officials said, raising the prospect that the United States will be unable …

JUDGE: ARMY GI IN WIKILEAKS ILLEGALLY PUNISHED  —  You are here  —  Home » Bradley Manning » Judge: Army GI in WikiLeaks illegally punished  —  FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — An Army private suspected of sending reams of classified documents to the secret-sharing WikiLeaks website …

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.

Police have stopped me 25 times... just because I'm black: Stephen Lawrence's teacher brother launches damning race case against the Met  —  Stephen Lawrence's brother last night claimed police have stopped him 25 times simply because of the colour of his skin.

Can Chris Christie rescue the GOP?  —  A pair of polls out this week shows the dire state the Republican Party finds itself in — and a way out of the wilderness, should Republicans choose to take it.  —  Poll No. 1: Rasmussen Reports found that views of the tea party …

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.