GOP Rep: Todd Akin ‘Partly Right’ On Legitimate Rape  —  “Legitimate rape” is back.  Just a couple months after former Rep. Todd Akin's (R-MO) famous use of the phrase helped contribute to a double-digit loss in the 2012 Missouri Senate race, a Republican congressman and medical doctor …

The debt ceiling must go  —  Here is a stubbornly well-kept secret: the debt ceiling is arbitrary, doesn't affect the deficit, and serves no real function in keeping spending down.  In addition, it has recently become a cudgel which extremist Republican legislators use to beat the rest of us into submitting to political blackmail.

Top Senate Dems to White House: If you unilaterally raise debt ceiling, we've got your back  —  In a move that will significantly ratchet up the brinksmanship around the debt ceiling, the four members of the Senate Democratic leadership are privately telling the White House …

Portland residents panic as men armed with assault weapons ‘educate’ the city  —  Two men walked the streets of Portland armed with assault weapons earlier this week because they said they wanted to “educate” residents, who reacted by fleeing and calling police.

Bloomberg Slaps Down Criticism of Painkiller Restriction Plan  —  Yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city officials unveiled a new initiative to limit supplies of prescription painkillers in the city's emergency rooms as a way to combat what they described as a growing addiction problem in the region.