NRA ‘Disappointed’ With Biden Meeting For Proposing Restrictions On Guns  —  The National Rifle Association issued a statement following a meeting on gun violence with Vice President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, saying it was “disappointed” with how much the conversation focused on limiting the Second Amendment.

Unhinged Tactical Response CEO Threatens to ‘Start Killing People’ Over Obama's Gun Control … Warning: Language NSFW.  —  The CEO of a Tennessee company that specializes in weapons and tactical training is threatening to “start killing people” if President Barack Obama moves forward with gun control measures.

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 …

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.

Obama signs bill, gets Secret Service protection for life  —  Washington (CNN) - With the stroke of a pen Thursday, President Barack Obama gave himself and his wife Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives.  —  The new law, which passed the House and Senate in December …

Gov. Bobby Jindal calls for elimination of all Louisiana income and corporate taxes  —  Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing to eliminate Louisiana's income and corporate taxes and pay for those cuts with increased sales taxes, the governor's office confirmed Thursday.  The governor's office has not yet provided the details of the plan.

Sessions: Lew must ‘never’ be Treasury secretary  —  The top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee will oppose Jack Lew's nomination to be Treasury secretary.  —  Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has prepared a statement saying “Jack Lew must never be Secretary of Treasury.”

Cory Booker: “Pointing the finger at gays”  —  Cory Booker's column in the April 8, 1992 Stanford Daily. … I was in my tolerance stage or the “I don't give a damn if someone is gay, just as long as they don't bother me” stage.  I was well trained in my tolerance.  I stopped telling my gay jokes.

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.

Democrats Dread 2014 Drop-Off  —  At first blush, Saxby Chambliss and the Michigan right-to-work episode seem completely unrelated.  Most Republicans approve of both, of course, but there is a deeper connection.  The Georgia senator and Michigan's effort to restrict organized labor's power …

The Mostly Solved Deficit Problem  —  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a graph:  —  The vertical axis measures the projected ratio of federal debt to GDP.  The blue line at the top represents the projected path of that ratio as of early 2011 — that is, before recent agreements on spending cuts and tax increases.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's husband deploying to Afghanistan  —  (CNN) - The husband of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Michael, received a tearful goodbye from his family Thursday as he prepared for a year-long deployment in Afghanistan.  —  A captain in the South Carolina National Guard …

Fox News Doesn't Understand How Coins Work  —  Here's Fox News confusing the idea of a coin-shaped pile of platinum worth $1 trillion and a $1 trillion coin that happens to be made out of platinum and can be of any size.  We saw earlier this week that the National Republican Campaign Committee …

Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan in Your Movie  —  Lindsay Lohan moves through the Chateau Marmont as if she owns the place, but in a debtor-prison kind of way.  She'll soon owe the hotel $46,000.  Heads turn subtly as she slinks toward a table to meet a young producer and an old director.

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 …

In Defense of Hagel for Defense  —  Critics are pounding President Obama's choice for defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, as soft on Iran, anti-military and even anti-Semitic.  This is a grotesque caricature of a man who would make a terrific defense secretary.