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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

Biden Hints at Outlawing Unregulated ‘Private’ Gun Sales  —  Vice President Joe Biden, in remarks today before a meeting on guns, suggested the Obama administration is seriously considering outlawing unregulated “private” gun sales:  —  /p>  —  “And so the kinds of things that there's …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.