Obama Poised to Back Comprehensive Plan to Curb Gun Violence  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama this week will embrace a comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence that will call for major legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases and lay out 19 separate actions the president …

Man who helped Sandy Hook kids is harassed by conspiracy theorists  —  A man who found six children in his driveway in Newtown, Conn., after their teacher had been shot and killed in last month's school massacre has become the target of conspiracy theorists who believe the shootings were staged.

Utah Smoothie Shop Charges Liberals More, Donates Surcharge To Conservative Causes  —  A smoothie shop in Vernal, Utah is sparking outrage over an unorthodox pricing structure that charges liberals an extra dollar.  The shop, tellingly named the I Love Drilling Juice and Smoothie Bar …

Murkowski: Country must pay its bills  —  FAIRBANKS — Sen. Lisa Murkowski is breaking with Republican leadership in the debate about raising the U.S. debt ceiling, saying the country has a duty to assure it can pay its bills.  —  Raising the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling has emerged …

Introducing Graph Search Beta  —  Facebook's mission is to make the world more open and connected.  The main way we do this is by giving people the tools to map out their relationships with the people and things they care about.  We call this map the graph.  It's big and constantly expanding with new people, content and connections.

Former Aide: Michele Bachmann Had “Unnatural Relationship” With Debate Coach  —  Peter Waldron alleges “Rasputin-like” control over the candidate.  “The story is completely false,” says O'Donnell.  —  O'Donnell looking at Bachmann.  —  Image by AP / AP  —  Michele Bachmann's high-profile …

House Republicans Can't Find Any Co-Sponsors For Their Latest Obamacare Repeal Bills  —  Earlier this month, Tea Party darling Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) admitted that his plan to introduce yet another Obamacare repeal bill would be unlikely to pass in the wake of President Obama's decisive re-election.

How Hagel Won Schumer's Support For Defense Secretary  —  Shortly after Chuck Hagel was nominated to be next secretary of defense, TPM asked a Senate Republican leadership aide what their opposition strategy was going to be.  —  The aide's response in full: “Schumer.”

More city co-eds turning to sugar daddies for school support  —  More New York City co-eds are turning to a new source of income — sugar daddies — to cope with the rising cost of their college tuition, surprising statistics released yesterday reveal.  —  And the majority is enrolled …

CNN President Jeff Zucker backs Piers Morgan's gun control campaign  —  CNN president Jeff Zucker told CNN New York staff today that he supported Piers Morgan's decision to speak in favor of gun control, sources at the network tell POLITICO.  —  During a town-hall meeting with staff …

This Metamorphosis Will Require a Permit  —  Sandy wrecked our house, but bureaucrats are keeping it broken.  —  “What sort of people were these?  What were they talking about?  What office did they belong to?  K. was living in a free country, after all, everywhere was at peace …

Mark Sanford: I'm Running for Congress  —  A conversation with the former South Carolina governor  —  Mark Sanford, the three-term congressman and two-term South Carolina governor, is preparing his political comeback, running for the House in the district recently represented by Tim Scott.

Planet Earth Abandons Death Star Project In Face Of Superior Galactic Imperial Power  —  IMPERIAL CENTER, CORUSCANT - The overwhelming military superiority of the Galactic Empire has been confirmed once again by the recent announcement by the President of the United States that his nation …

On humanity, a big failure in Aaron Swartz case  —  If it was beyond scandalous that Aaron Swartz was facing 35 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines for downloading a bunch of obscure academic treatises without a subscription, it is beyond tragic that he is now dead.

Ann Coulter: ‘If You Compare White Populations,’ U.S. Has Same Murder Rate As Belgium (VIDEO)  —  Right-wing firebrand Ann Coulter on Monday said that the United States has a demographic problem rather than a gun problem, arguing that the country has a comparable murder rate to Belgium “if you compare white populations.”

Obama agrees to ‘taxation without representation’ plates on presidential limo  —  President Obama, after a push by the D.C. Council, has agreed to affix license plates to his limo with the phrase “taxation without representation.”  —  The new plates will be in place beginning this weekend …

Pakistani Supreme Court orders arrest of prime minister in corruption case  —  Islamabad (CNN) — The Pakistani government came under attack from two angles Tuesday as the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the country's prime minister and a rowdy anti-government rally took place near the national parliament.

House panel blocks most GOP attempts to trim Sandy disaster-relief bill  —  The Republican-led House Rules Committee late Monday approved a rule for a massive Hurricane Sandy relief package that shuts out most GOP proposals to pare back the size of the bill.

Former Obama Staff Complain Of Cold Inaugural Shoulder  —  The no-drama Obama campaign is over.  “The people that worked so hard, for so long, to raise a billion dollars and turn out millions of voters deserve better.”  —  Stewards stand amid rows of empty seats during a dress rehearsal …

Texas Proposal: JAIL Any Federal Officials Trying to Enforce New Gun Restrictions in the State  —  measure would make any federal firearms legislation passed by Congress or approved by Presidential order unenforceable in Texas

New Video Game Allows Players to Murder NRA President  —  A new online video game is taking political discourse to a whole new level.  We already reported the death threats being received by NRA executives and now, a video game which allows users to shoot NRA President David Keene in the head, has been released.

As inauguration approaches, Obama's most virulent foes want the celebration stopped  —  Eldon Bell, a retired Air Force officer and physician, is making no plans to see Barack Obama's second inauguration, in part because Bell considers the president arrogant and dishonest …

PS: A Little NRA Mystery  —  This morning I blogged about a new target-shooting app - NRA: Target Practice - that has gotten a ton of media attention because it is advertised as being for ages 4 and up.  I suggested that this was, even by NRA standards, so tasteless that it must be a hoax.

Debt Ceiling  —  This panel explores the extent to which economists agree or disagree on major public policy issues.  To assess such beliefs we assembled this panel of expert economists.  Statistics teaches that a sample of (say) 40 opinions will be adequate to reflect a broader population …