The NRA Opens Fire  —  In case you were waiting for the National Rifle Association's reasonable, constructive contribution to our current debate on how best to curb gun violence in America, your wait is over.  They are locked, loaded, and ready to bring the crazy.

Obama Gun Proposal to Look Beyond Mass Shootings  —  A new federal assault weapons ban and background checks of all gun buyers, which President Obama is expected to propose on Wednesday, might have done little to prevent the massacre in Newtown, Conn., last month.

Why debt limit must be used to force a balanced budget  —  This Monday, President Obama again asserted that the country would “default” if Congress did not raise the debt limit.  “The full and faith and credit of the United States is not a bargaining chip,” he said at a press conference.

Kathryn Bigelow addresses ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ torture criticism  —  ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ director Kathryn Bigelow answers criticism of the film's depiction of torture, which she says does not equal endorsement of the tactics.  —  Kathryn Bigelow.  —  For a long time, measuring more years …

Why We're Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People  —  When we launched We the People, none of us knew how popular it would be, but it's exceeded our wildest expectations.  Through the past year, interest in We the People exploded and we're closing in on 10 million signatures.

How 19-year-old activist Zack Kopplin is making life hell for Louisiana's creationists  —  For Zack Kopplin, it all started back in 2008 with the passing of the Louisiana Science Education Act.  The bill made it considerably easier for teachers to introduce creationist textbooks into the classroom.

Chamber, union leaders mull alliance to press for immigration reform  —  Washington's most powerful business lobby and prominent union leaders are discussing a joint push on immigration reform this year.  —  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is in discussions with the AFL-CIO …

First Thoughts: Obama set to go big on guns  —  Obama set to go big on guns... But the opposition will go equally big... NRA — with its new web video — brings a sledgehammer to the fight... Sandy relief passes the House (but with just a minority of the majority)... And that's instructive …

Roe v. Wade at 40: Most Oppose Overturning Abortion Decision  —  Millennials Far Less Aware of Historic Ruling  —  As the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision approaches, the public remains opposed to completely overturning the historic ruling on abortion.

Bush Speechwriter Michael Gerson Exposes Obama's Sinister Being-Reasonable Ploy  —  It's a trick.  A very complicated one.  —  The Obama presidency has been an agonizing time for those few remaining moderate Republicans.  They fully oppose their party's extremism, but the gravitational loyalty …

Obama runs afoul of Dem base  —  The nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to head the Pentagon disappointed liberals and women's groups hoping for the first female Defense secretary.  —  It was also a double blow, of sorts, as Obama picked a fight with Republicans over Hagel …

Lawmakers slam DOJ prosecution of Swartz as ‘ridiculous, absurd’  —  House lawmakers blasted federal prosecutors on Tuesday for pushing aggressive hacking charges against Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who killed himself on Friday.  —  Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) says his Oversight panel …

These Are The People The Wall Street Journal Thinks We Should Have Sympathy For?  —  The Wall Street Journal had an article providing a fairly thorough breakdown of the new tax policies that will now be in effect due to the “fiscal cliff” agreement reached by congress.  The article itself wasn't too bad, really.

Pennsylvania House Republicans Introduce Bill To Rig The 2016 Presidential Election … Earlier this week, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus endorsed a Republican plan to rig the next presidential election to make it nearly impossible for the Democratic candidate to win the White House …

Ex-Bachmann aide alleges campaign finance violations  —  Filing says her PAC wrongly paid a longtime consultant.  —  WASHINGTON - A top adviser in Michele Bachmann's 2012 White House bid has filed a complaint with federal election officials alleging campaign finance violations involving …

Andrew's empty gun win  —  It's always about the polls  —  Albany has once more felt the heavy hand of Andrew Cuomo — to what useful purpose, it remains to be seen.  —  Politics, not policy, looks to have been the point of Cuomo's so-called SAFE Act of 2013, a gun-control bill marinated …

WB redrafting Reddit-borne time-travel pic  —  Brian Miller hired to write fresh take on ‘Rome, Sweet Rome’  —  Warner Bros. has tapped “Apollo 18” scribe Brian Miller to take a crack at “Rome, Sweet Rome,” a high-concept time travel story that originated from the website Reddit.com.

U.S.-China deficit may be lower than thought  —  Stephan Savoia/AP - In this 2012 file photo, a container is loaded onto a ship from China at Massport's Conley Terminal in the port of Boston.  In releasing the study on the U.S. trade deficit with China, the WTO and OECD highlighted how the data could influence the world trade agenda.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to leave cabinet position in March  —  WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will step down from his cabinet position in the Obama administration and return to Colorado to spend time with his family, his office has confirmed to The Denver Post.

Sen. Schumer asks Craigslist and eBay not to sell inauguration tickets  —  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is asking online ticketing sites not to allow the sale of inauguration tickets.  —  “Having a ticket to the inauguration is a privilege, it's not something that should be used to make a profit,” he said on Monday.

News outlets improperly used photos posted to Twitter: judge  —  (Reuters) - A judge has found that two news organizations improperly used images that a photojournalist had posted to Twitter in one of the first big tests of intellectual property law involving social media.