Gabrielle Giffords' husband smacks down Wayne LaPierre  —  Perhaps the most important moment so far in today's Senate Judiciary hearing on guns came when astronaut Mark Kelly directly confronted NRA head Wayne LaPierre over the shooting of his wife, Gabrielle Giffords.

U.S. Economy Unexpectedly Contracts in Fourth Quarter  —  Private-Sector Hiring Rose by 192,000 in January, ADP Reports  —  WASHINGTON—U.S. economic momentum screeched to a halt in the final months of 2012, as businesses pared back inventories and government spending fell sharply …

Tennessee 'Don't Say Gay' Bill Now Requires Teachers To Inform Parents If Their Child Is Gay  —  Tennessee's so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill died with the adjournment of the state assembly last year.  But now the measure is back — with new, harsher requirements.

Gabby Giffords's Handwritten Notes for Her Testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee  —  The former U.S. representative wrote her speech in pen, and on binder paper.  —  Americans for Responsible Solutions  —  This morning, Gabby Giffords made an unannounced appearance at the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on gun violence.

I Don't Like Marco Rubio's Plan  —  There.  I said it.  —  You'd be surprised how long it has taken to say this.  I've let multiple friends vet the various drafts of posts I've written on this and they all wind up arguing with each other over the details.  Is it amnesty or isn't it?

White House Blames GDP Drop On Republicans  —  “It's not a game — it's the American economy,” Carney scolds.  —  Press Secretary Jay Carney briefs reporters at the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.  —  Image by Charles Dharapak / AP  —  WASHINGTON — White House Press …

SYRIA CONFIRMS ISRAELI JETS BOMBED MILITARY SITE  —  You are here  —  Home » Israel » Syria confirms Israeli jets bombed military site  —  BEIRUT (AP) — Israel conducted a rare airstrike on a military target inside Syria, foreign officials and Syrian state TV said Wednesday …

Gayle Trotter Testimony Captivates Senate Gun Control Hearing  —  Gun Control, Video, Second Amendment, Senate Gun Control, Senate Gun Hearing, Gayle Trotter, Gayle Trotter Gun Control, Gayle Trotter Gun Rights, Gayle Trotter Senate Hearing, Women And Guns, Women Gun Control, Politics News

Teen Performer At Inaugural Events Fatally Shot In Chicago  —  Hadiyah Pendleton, 15, was shot in the back while hanging out with a group of teens on Tuesday  —  Hadiya Pendleton died after she was shot in the back while hanging out with a group of teens on Tuesday.  Police say she wasn't the intended target.

EXCLUSIVE: Actor Jim Nabors marries his longtime male partner  —  Jim Nabors, the Hawaii resident well known for his starring role in the 1960s television sitcom “Gomer Pyle, USMC,” married his longtime male partner early this month, he told Hawaii News Now Tuesday.

Obama administration takes steps to implement individual mandate  —  The Obama administration took new steps Wednesday toward implementing the individual mandate in its signature healthcare law, downplaying the scope of the unpopular provision by stressing rules that allow exemptions from the requirement to purchase insurance.

Chinese Hackers Infiltrate New York Times Computers  —  SAN FRANCISCO — For the last four months, Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times, infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees.  —  After surreptitiously tracking …

CNN ‘Starting Point’ Staffers Brace Themselves  —  The announcement that CNN is totally revamping its morning show and scrapping Soledad O'Brien's “Starting Point” has sent shivers through her staff.  —  Insiders tell us Executive VP Ken Jautz and VP Bart Feder addressed the staff after the show went off the air today.

Reid Tips His Hand Over Dems' Sequester Strategy  —  In the House of Representatives, Republicans claim they've braced themselves to let the full force of the sequester hit government programs of all kinds on March 1, defense most directly, rather than compromise with Democrats to replace …

President Obama's popularity surges to three-year high  —  President Obama is riding a wave of personal popularity into his second term, with his highest favorability ratings since his first year in office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.  —  Fully 60 percent of Americans …

Video Games Are ‘A Bigger Problem Than Guns,’ Says Actual U.S. Senator  —  On MSNBC today, U.S. senator Lamar Alexander (a Tennessee Republican) set a new benchmark for insanity by claiming that games are worse than guns.  —  “I think video games is a bigger problem than guns …

Obama expects immigration reform bill as early as June  —  President Obama said Wednesday he expects an immigration reform bill will be signed into law by year's end, and possibly as early as June.  —  “I'm hopeful that this can get done, and I don't think that it should take many, many months …

William ‘Mo’ Cowan is Governor Deval Patrick's pick to serve as interim US senator  —  William “Mo” Cowan is Governor Deval Patrick's choice to serve as the interim US senator until the successor to John F. Kerry is chosen by the voters June 25, according to a source in the governor's office.

Making Voting Constitutional  —  In Fairfax County, Virginia, a voter holds their voting permit and ID card at the Washington Mill Elementary School near Mount Vernon, Tuesday, November 6, 2012.  Fairfax County is a Washington suburb with more than 1 million residents and is the biggest battleground …

Niners CB says openly gay players would not be welcomed on the team  —  NEW ORLEANS - San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver has made inflammatory comments regarding homosexuality in football just a few days before Super Bowl XLVII.  —  Shock jock Artie Lange revealed he had interviewed Culliver …

IGNORE LENA DUNHAM'S ‘GIRLS’ AT YOUR OWN PERIL, CONSERVATIVES  —  There's plenty about Girls to annoy conservatives, yet this often creepy, usually skeevy, critically-acclaimed HBO series is also a test for conservatives.  —  Will we finally heed Andrew Breitbart's warnings about the importance …

Obama goes ‘skeet shooting all the time’?  Hardly ever, sources say  —  Jan. 29, 2013: President Obama waves to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.AP  —  News of President Obama's apparently long-secret fondness for skeet shooting came as a surprise …

Obama's Flip-Flops on Money in Politics: A Brief History  —  When President Obama told supporters that he would morph his campaign into a new nonprofit that would accept unlimited corporate donations, the announcement set off a familiar round of griping from campaign finance reformers.

Police: Hostage Taker in Alabama Standoff Has ‘Anti-America’ Views  —  The man who ignited a hostage standoff in southern Alabama when he shot a bus driver and took a child into an underground bunker is a “survivalist” who has ties to the antigovernment movement, an official …