Clinton More Popular than Biden; Let the 2016 Handicapping Begin  —  Of two potential Democratic successors to Barack Obama, one has a clear advantage in personal popularity: Hillary Clinton, whose favorability rating exceeds Joe Biden's by a hefty 19 percentage points in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Release Detail  —  January 23, 2013 - New Jersey Voters Back Christie's Rap On GOP 5-1, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Tell Lautenberg To Step Aside  —  Gov. Christopher Christie was right to criticize Congressional Republicans for delaying a vote on Hurricane Sandy relief …

Obama Speech Leaves G.O.P. Stark Choices  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's aggressive Inaugural Address on Monday presented Congressional Republicans with a stark choice over the next two years: accommodate the president's agenda on immigration, guns, energy and social programs and hope …

Reid to Senate Republicans: Filibuster deal in 36 hours or face nuclear option  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is giving Republican colleagues 36 hours to agree to a deal on filibuster reform or he will move forward with the nuclear option.  —  “I hope in the next 24, 36 hours we can get something we agree on.

Barack Obama Is Boring  —  I was not going to comment on President Obama's second inaugural address until I saw a headline quoting a line from the speech: “We are made for this moment.”  —  Really?  “This moment”—again?  —  “This moment” was in Obama's big speech in Berlin as a candidate …

Hillary Clinton pays off 2008 campaign debt  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has finally paid off the debt from her 2008 presidential campaign.  —  According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, Clinton paid the remainder of her debt in the last days of 2012.

Shooter identified in Lone Star College campus shooting  —  HARRIS COUNTY — Officials have identified the shooter in Tuesday's shooting on the Lone Star College campus.  —  Dozens of law enforcement officers rushed to the campus while panicked students ran away from the campus when three people were shot near the library.

GOP critics get opportunity to grill Secretary Clinton on Benghazi  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify Wednesday that her agency is moving full speed ahead with recommendations to avoid a repeat of the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

Exit polls: Netanyahu, Right suffer blow, Lapid big winner  —  Israel goes Leftward as Right bloc's majority razor-thin; voter turnout 66.6%; Likud Beytenu plummets; Labor polled to get 17 seats, Bayit Yehudi 12, Shas 11, Livni and Meretz 7 each, UTJ 6.  —  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's …

Sting operations reveal Mafia involvement in renewable energy  —  PALERMO, Italy — Inside a midnight-blue BMW, a Sicilian entrepreneur delivered his pitch to the accused mafia boss.  A new business was blowing into Italy that could spin wind and sunlight into gold, ensuring the future …

Phil Mickelson warns of ‘drastic changes’ because of state, federal tax situation [UPDATED]  —  Phil Mickelson loves throwing boulders into the placid pond that is golf, and watching the ripples spill over the sides.  Whether it's rules changes or course design, Mickelson isn't shy about speaking his mind.

McCain: Waterboard Kerry (just kidding)  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joked that he's going to get the truth out of Sen. John Kerry during confirmation hearings this week, even if he has to resort to enhanced interrogation methods.  Kerry has been nominated to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

Report: Boehner's inauguration smoke joke had first lady's eyes rolling  —  Having a smoke is no joke to Michelle Obama.  —  A lip-reader claims Speaker John Boehner's question about cigarettes at the inaugural luncheon is what triggered an eye roll from the first lady.

As Obama heads back to office, a battle rages over the tech that got him reelected  —  Programmers and politicians spar over sharing the campaign-winning code with the public  —  The tech team behind the 2012 Obama campaign has probably received more attention than any political programmers in history.

U.S. Budget Discord Is Top Threat to Global Economy in Poll  —  Global investors say the state of the U.S. government's finances is the greatest risk to the world economy and almost half are curbing their investments in response to continuing budget battles, a Bloomberg poll shows.

Break All the Rules  —  First, my congratulations and condolences to John Kerry for being nominated to be our next secretary of state.  There is no one better for the job today and no worse job to have today.  It is no accident that we've started measuring our secretaries of state more by miles traveled than milestones achieved.

Exclusive: Beyoncé lip-synched Star Spangled Banner at inauguration  —  Beyoncé did not sing the national anthem live at President Obama's inauguration.  —  Millions of viewers around the world were stunned by the singer's spectacular rendition of the anthem but The Times …

House Republican Leader Blames Gun Violence On ‘Welfare Moms’  —  Rep. James Lankford (R-OK), the fifth-ranking House Republican, laid the blame for gun violence at the feet of an unusual suspect: the children of “welfare moms” who commit fraud.  —  In a meeting with constituents earlier …