Edward Koch, Former Mayor of New York, Dies at 88  —  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 his city of golden dreams, died Friday morning at age 88.

Schieffer: Hagel's nomination “may be in trouble”  —  (CBS News) White House officials told CBS' Major Garrett that they're disappointed with defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel's performance at his confirmation hearing before the Senate on Thursday.  —  One of the most damaging exchanges during …

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.

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 …

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 …

Opt out option expected for religious insurers who oppose contraceptives  —  Washington (CNN) — Religiously affiliated organizations will be able to opt out of providing their employees with insurance coverage for contraceptives under updates to an Obama administration mandate that the Department …

AP Interview: Clinton raps Benghazi critics  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is leaving office with a slap at critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya.  She told The Associated Press that critics …

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.

“Gun Violence” And Still More Violence To The Truth At The Times  —  The NY Times is now fretting that focusing on the link between mental health and gun violence may not be “fair”.  What is striking is that when the Times opines on “gun violence” and the need for policies including …

Senator Has Long Ties to Donor Under Scrutiny  —  Dr. Salomon E. Melgen, a wealthy Florida eye surgeon, has always been happy to help out his friend, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey.  —  He rushed to the senator's side when Mr. Menendez's mother died, flew him around on his private jet …

Sen. Begich leads in GOP poll  —  Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) leads a number of Republicans from the state in hypothetical matchups, according to new numbers from GOP pollster Harper Polling.  —  Begich leads Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) by 44 to 34 percent, and holds a gaping 52 …

Alabama, North Dakota, Wyoming Most Conservative States  —  Americans slightly less conservative, slightly more liberal  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Alabama, North Dakota, and Wyoming were the most conservative states in the union in 2012, with between 49% and 50% of residents in each identifying their ideology as conservative.

GOP Lawmaker Behind Abortion Ban: 'We're Not Going To Allow Minorities To Run Roughshod' … On Wednesday, the Arkansas Senate approved an unconstitutional bill to ban abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.  As The Nation's Lee Fang noted Friday, this is part of a larger strategy …