Anti-Gay Pastor Removed From Inaugural Program … Louis Giglio, the anti-LGBT pastor who had been announced to perform the benediction at President Obama's second inauguration, has been removed from the program, ABC News's Jonathan Karl reported Thursday.  —  The move came after ThinkProgress …

Giffords gun control group wants $20 million for 2014 elections  —  (Reuters) - A new gun control group led by Gabrielle Giffords, the former U.S. congresswoman wounded in a Tucson shooting rampage, wants to raise $20 million for the 2014 congressional elections, matching …

Cory Booker Wrestled With His Own Homophobia  —  “I was disgusted by gays.  The thought of two men kissing each other was about as appealing as a frontal lobotomy.”  How Booker's mind was changed.  —  Image by Julio Cortez / AP  —  Newark Mayor Cory Booker's December announcement that he would …

First Thoughts: The disorganized cabinet shuffle  —  The Obama White House's disorganized cabinet shuffle... And some legitimate excuses for it... Obama to nominate Jack Lew for top Treasury job at 1:30 pm ET... Biden meets with the NRA and other gun-rights groups at the White House …

A GOP Strategy for the Debt-Ceiling Fight  —  The House should pass a bill pairing spending cuts with a dollar-for-dollar debt-ceiling increase.  —  President Obama says he won't negotiate with Republicans over his proposed more than $1 trillion increase in the debt ceiling as a matter …

Report: At least two people shot at Taft High School  —  TAFT, Calif. - Officials have said that at least two people were shot at Taft High School.  —  The shooting happened at about 9 a.m., and reports indicate that at least two people were shot.  —  The shooter was taken into custody at about 9:20 a.m. officials said.

Replacing David: Plouffe-by-committee?  —  Obama's right hand man in the West Wing and campaign consigliere, David Plouffe, has basically left the building, according to several White House sources who say they haven't seen him around much since the fiscal cliff deal.

Joe Walsh Suggests Breaking Law to Fight Affordable Care Act in Chicago  —  CHICAGO — Tea Party favorite Joe Walsh says conservatives are losing the “war” for U.S. voters and encouraged his backers at a South Loop rally to engage in civil disobedience to defy the Affordable Care Act or new gun regulations.

Carney on coin gambit: ‘There is no backup plan’  —  For all the recent scuttlebutt about resolving the Republican debt-ceiling crisis with a trillion-dollar coin, there was an elusive detail: what does the White House think about this?  Yesterday, for the first time, press secretary Jay Carney was pressed for an answer.

The Debt Ceiling's Escape Hatch  —  THE fiscal cliff may have been avoided, but an even higher-stakes political standoff — this time, over the federal debt ceiling — is just around the bend.  —  Congressional Republicans have said they will demand immense cuts to popular government programs …

Joe Scarborough Goes Off On Mika Brzezinski After She Asserts He's ‘Being Chauvinistic’  —  The Morning Joe family got heated and a bit awkward this morning during a discussion about the lack of diversity in President Obama's inner circle.  As Joe Scarborough pointed to the lack of outrage …

For Americans Under 50, Stark Findings on Health  —  Younger Americans die earlier and live in poorer health than their counterparts in other developed countries, with far higher rates of death from guns, car accidents and drug addiction, according to a new analysis of health and longevity in the United States.

Ryan on 2016: 'I've decided not to decide'  —  Former vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was decidedly evasive when asked about a 2016 presidential run on Wednesday, but declined to rule anything out.  —  “I've decided not to decide,” Ryan said when asked about his future plans, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.