Confirmed: Beyonce DID lip-synch at the inauguration  —  Beyonce Knowle's flawless performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the inauguration was entirely lip-synched, Page Six has confirmed.  A rep for the United States Marine Band revealed that she decided to perform to a pre-recorded track at the last minute.

Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration  —  While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama's second inauguration on Monday, the Virginia State Senate managed to hurriedly pass a bill that would redistrict the state's senate seats.

NBC/WSJ poll: Majority, for first time, want abortion to be legal  —  As the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision takes place on Tuesday, a majority of Americans - for the first time - believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Obama speech reveals a different leader  —  President Obama has never lacked for confidence, but rarely has that attribute been on display as clearly as on Monday in an inaugural address that underscored the distance he has traveled after four contentious years in office.

The Collective Turn  —  The best Inaugural Addresses make an argument for something.  President Obama's second one, which surely has to rank among the best of the past half-century, makes an argument for a pragmatic and patriotic progressivism.  —  His critics have sometimes accused …

Reid to lay out plans for filibuster reform  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will present colleagues with options for reforming the Senate's filibuster rules in a Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday.  —  Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) …

Sarkozy's plans 'to dodge new 75% French tax rate by moving to London with wife Carla and setting up £1bn private equity fund'  —  Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to move to London to set up a billion pounds plus investment fund, it was claimed today.  —  If the move goes ahead …

Obama dodges ‘hard choices’ on entitlements  —  President Barack Obama insisted four years ago that the nation must make “hard decisions” to preserve entitlement programs.  —  But on Monday, the “hard choices” he spoke of on health care and the deficit came with a major caveat: He's not willing to give up much.

Taliban responds to Prince Harry: 'It's not a game—it's very, very real'  —  Taliban leaders have fired back at Prince Harry over the royal's comments that piloting a helicopter in Afghanistan—where he says he killed insurgents during his recent tour of duty—is like playing a video game.

Study: “Debt Problem Began Four Decades Ago” … A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reminds Americans that, contrary to the narrative that huge deficits and debt are merely a recent product of the Great Recession, the problem began over forty years ago.

House Republicans plan to keep debt limit but suspend it until May  —  Forget about raising the federal debt limit.  House Republicans are proposing to ignore it altogether — at least until May 18.  —  The House plans to vote Wednesday on a measure that would leave the $16.4 trillion debt limit intact …

TRENDING: CNN Poll: Do Americans agree with Obama on climate change and immigration?  —  Washington (CNN) - Saying “we will respond to the threat of climate change,” President Barack Obama used his second inaugural address to put the divisive issue back on the front burner.

State school-board president defends Hitler post on Facebook  —  Not comparing him to Obama, she says  —  State Board of Education President Debe Terhar said she was not comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler when she posted a photograph of the Nazi leader on her Facebook page …

TheDC Morning: Meet the man who ended the gun debate  —  Like to laugh?  Like to be informed?  Then sign up for TheDC Morning email here.  —  1.)  Meet the man who ended the gun debate — Finally, James Taylor has spoken on gun control.  TheDC's Nicholas Ballasy reports:

ISUE4U: State sued over banned vanity plates  —  Issuing vanity license plates now may officially be more trouble than it's worth.  —  Hours after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story last week about the state's arbitrary approval process of vanity license plates for motor vehicles …

Obama shoves idealism into its grave  —  A young reporter who has covered only President Obama's first term has already witnessed several political epochs.  —  Obama's election was a symbol of reconciliation in America's longest, bloodiest conflict — the one that produced Antietam.

Jill Kelley Says Paula Broadwell Tried to ‘Blackmail’ Her  —  The woman dragged into the Petraeus scandal tells Howard Kurtz that her life is now a nightmare.  She says she didn't press charges against Paula Broadwell and never exchanged 30,000 emails with a top general.

Following the elections in Israel, a reset  —  TO LOSE favor in Washington was once political poison for Israeli prime ministers.  Twice during the 1990s, Israelis voted out leaders who quarreled with the U.S. president; the second one was Benjamin Netanyahu.