Edward I. Koch, 1924-2013: Edward I. Koch, Ex-Mayor of New York, Dies  —  Edward I. Koch, the master showman of City Hall, who parlayed shrewd political instincts and plenty of chutzpah into three tumultuous terms as mayor of New York with all the tenacity, zest and combativeness that personified …

Hagel delivers shaky performance  —  Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) delivered a shaky performance at his confirmation hearing to lead the Pentagon while enduring a difficult day of grilling by his former Republican colleagues.  —  Hagel stumbled over some answers — describing Iran as having a …

POLICE: SUICIDE BOMBING AT US EMBASSY, 2 DEAD … ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital on Friday, killing himself and one other person, officials said.  —  U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardione …

IRS: Cheapest Obamacare Plan Will Be $20,000 Per Family  —  (CNSNews.com) - In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.

Paranoid NRA Releases Enemy List - Are YOU On It?  —  Enemy lists...They go back as far as politics have been a part of our culture.  Nixon, Joseph McCarthy, Pol Pot, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Generalissimo Francisco Franco, who is, we believe, still dead.

Hillary Clinton Takes a Rest, How Weird Is That?  —  Hillary Rodham Clinton's plan for 2013 was simple.  —  She'd embark on an epic swansong around the world as secretary of state, a dizzying itinerary of east-west and north-south flights that would take her past 1 million miles in the air …

Yahoo News interview: Mitch McConnell on immigration, guns, bourbon and Sen. Ashley Judd  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell this week expressed firm support for a guest worker program to help bring in more low-skilled workers for farm labor and other industries.

Pastor Apologizes For Snide Remark On Meal Receipt  —  St. Louis woman says she got waitress fired for online leak  —  The St. Louis pastor responsible for the credit card receipt heard 'round the Internet termed her snide scribblings a “lapse in my character and judgment,” …

Economy Adds 157,000 Jobs  —  WASHINGTON—The job market plodded along in January, signaling slow economic growth to start the year.  —  Employers added 157,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday.  The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households …

Obama Campaign, DNC End Year in Debt  —  President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee ended 2012 with large debts.  —  Campaign finance reports filed Thursday show Obama's campaign ended the year with $5.8 million in debt while his party's political arm, the DNC, owed $21.4 million.

Armed guard disarmed teen in Atlanta school shooting, says police chief  —  • A student opened fire at his middle school Thursday afternoon, wounding a 14-year-old in the neck before an armed officer working at the school was able to get the gun away, police said.

‘Steven Tyler Act’ proposed in Hawaii  —  HONOLULU (AP) - More than two-thirds of Hawaii's state senators have signed onto a bill to protect celebrities from paparazzi, giving famous faces power to sue over unwanted beach photos and other snapshots on the islands.

GOP prods a hesitant Scott Brown to run for Senate  —  With time running short, Washington Republicans have begun a “full court press” to persuade an increasingly reluctant Scott Brown to run in the special election to replace John F. Kerry, say two leading Massachusetts GOP figures.

Poll Finds Most Americans Support Treating Marijuana Like Alcohol; Even More Think the Feds Should Let States Do So  —  As the Obama administration mulls its response to marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington, the latest Reason-Rupe Public Opinion Survey finds that most Americans …