Ron Johnson: Hillary Clinton Planned To Get Emotional To Evade Questions  —  “I think she just decided before she was going to describe emotionally the four dead Americans, the heroes, and use that as her trump card,” the senator tells BuzzFeed.  —  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pounds …

Virginia State Senate Moves Ahead on Electoral College-Rigging Bill  —  Congressional clerks open certificate envelopes from different states during a joint session of the 113th Congress to count the Electoral College votes January 4, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Boehner: Obama out to ‘annihilate’ GOP  —  Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama's second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.”  —  “Given what we heard yesterday about the president's vision for his second term, it's pretty clear …

Pentagon Is Set to Lift Combat Ban for Women  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is lifting the military's official ban on women in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said Wednesday.

Feinstein revives assault-weapons ban  —  Bill faces tough going in the Republican-controlled House. … WASHINGTON — California Democrat Dianne Feinstein will begin her fourth full term as a U.S. senator much as she started her Senate career: fighting for a ban on assault weapons.

Democrats launch plan to turn Texas blue  —  National Democrats are taking steps to create a large-scale independent group aimed at turning traditionally conservative Texas into a prime electoral battleground, crafting a new initiative to identify and mobilize progressive voters in the rapidly-changing state …

Everything You Think You Know About Health Care Spending Is Wrong  —  This is the chart that I think ought to dominate the conversation about public-sector health care spending in the United States, and yet it is curiously ignored.  The data show government health care spending per capita in the United States and Canada.

Middle East and North Africa  —  Libya  —  Avoid all but essential travel to part(s) of country  —  Avoid all but essential travel to whole country … Travel advice for this country  — We are aware of a specific, imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi.

House Democrats propose opening gun makers to civil liability  —  House Democrats on Tuesday proposed legislation that would ease current law to allow people to file civil law suits against gun manufacturers and others in the industry when they act irresponsibly.

Bipartisan Filibuster Deal Is Taking Shape in the Senate  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic and Republican leaders are nearing an agreement on new limits to the filibuster, an effort to speed action in the often-clogged chamber by prohibiting senators from using a common tactic to slow the legislative process.

North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests  —  (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its “sworn enemy”.

Democratic Senators Face Gun Owners Roused by Talk of New Laws  —  BECKLEY, W.Va. — Talk of stricter gun control has stirred up a lot of unease here, a place where hunters vie for top prize (a 26-inch LED television) in the Big Buck Photo Contest, and ads for a gun-simulator game ask, “Feel like shooting something today?”

TARP Czar to Take Shot in Politics  —  Neel Kashkari, who oversaw the U.S. Treasury's much-maligned Troubled Asset Relief Program during the financial crisis, said he is leaving Pacific Investment Management Co. to consider running for public office in Democrat-heavy California as a Republican.