Chuck Hagel blocked: Harry Reid says he doesn't have the votes  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday that Republicans have told him that they plan to block Chuck Hagel's nomination to be the next secretary of Defense over demands for more information from the White House.

FreedomWorks Made Video of Fake Giant Panda Having Sex With Fake Hillary Clinton  —  The investigation at the influential tea party group could get weird.  —  An internal investigation of FreedomWorks—the prominent conservative advocacy group and super-PAC—has focused on president Matt Kibbe's management …

Can the Republicans be Saved From Obsolescence?  —  One afternoon last month, I paid a visit to two young Republicans named Bret Jacobson and Ian Spencer, who work in a small office in Arlington, Va., situated above an antique store and adjacent to a Japanese auto shop.

Amash Mulls Senate Run  —  Republican insiders tell National Review Online that Representative Justin Amash of Michigan is privately considering a Senate bid, should incumbent Democrat Carl Levin retire.  —  “People are asking him to look at it, and he hasn't closed the door,” …

Lautenberg will not seek re-election next year  —  Photos: Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey  —  TRENTON — U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a pugnacious and plain-spoken Democrat who has represented New Jersey for three decades, will not seek re-election to a sixth term next year.

Missouri Democrats Introduce Legislation to Confiscate Firearms - Gives Gun Owners 90 Days to Turn in Weapons  —  Missouri Democrats introduced an anti-gun bill which would turn law-abiding firearm owners into criminals.  They will have 90 days to turn in their guns if the legislation is passed.

Senate Dems unveil $110B sequester-replacement bill  —  Senate Democratic leaders unveiled a $110 billion sequester-replacement bill at a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday that would replace $85 billion in automatic spending cuts set for March 1.  —  The Senate Democratic package …

Report: Hagel Said State Department Controlled by Israel  —  Fox News Channel on Tuesday reported that secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel failed to disclose to the United States Senate speeches delivered to controversial groups such as the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee …

Nate Silver talks politics to filled Graham Chapel  —  New York Times writer and statistician Nate Silver told a full Graham Chapel audience that he might stop writing his renowned blog should his analyses ever start affecting election results.  —  Silver spent an hour minimizing his achievements …

The New New Republic  —  I don't recognize the magazine I used to own.  We were liberal but not narrowly partisan.  —  Like many readers of the New Republic, I didn't at first recognize the most recent issue of the magazine.  The stark white cover was unlike anything the New Republic ran during my 35 years as the owner.

A Most Peculiar Test Drive  —  You may have heard recently about an article written by John Broder from The New York Times that makes numerous claims about the performance of the Model S. We are upset by this article because it does not factually represent Tesla technology …

Ronald Dworkin obituary  —  Brilliant philosopher of law who put human dignity at the centre of his moral system  —  Ronald Dworkin, who has died aged 81, was widely respected as the most original and powerful philosopher of law in the English-speaking world.

Obama meets 47% video guy  —  DECATUR, Ga. — President Obama on Thursday met the man who made “47 percent” part of Mitt Romney's legacy.  —  Obama and opposition researcher James Carter, who released the infamous Romney fundraiser video, met backstage before Obama's education event here …