The President Is Raging Against a Budget Crisis He Created  —  Obama invented the ‘sequester’ in the summer of 2011 to avoid facing up to America's spending problem.  —  A week from now, a dramatic new federal policy is set to go into effect that threatens U.S. national security, thousands of jobs and more.

Debate co-chair: ‘Mistake’ to have Candy Crowley moderate presidential debate  —  Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, said tonight that the Commission made a “mistake” by selecting CNN anchor Candy Crowley to moderate one of the 2012 presidential debates.

‘Friends of Hamas’: My role in the birth of a rumor  —  A Daily News reporter explains how he inadvertently created the myth that Chuck Hagel spoke to a non-existent group.  —  Daily News reporter Dan Friedman recounts the origin of a rumor he unwittingly started about Chuck Hagel (pictured) …

Release Detail  —  February 20, 2013 - New Jersey Gov Flies High, Buries Unknown Dem, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Christie Close To Clinton, Leads Cuomo In '16 Pres Race  —  New Jersey voters today continue Gov. Christopher Christie's record-breaking 74 - 22 percent approval rating …

Senate Minority Leader Fooled by Report in Military Version of The Onion  —  The best parody contains elements of truth.  Which might explain how the military's answer to The Onion suckered the Senate's Republican leader.  —  Meet The Duffel Blog, if you haven't already.

Joe Miller's return gives GOP establishment heartburn  —  Republicans who don't want to witness GOP-on-GOP primary warfare in 2014 may want to keep their eyes trained on the Lower 48.  —  Alaska could be messy.  —  Joe Miller, the tea party favorite who was backed by Sarah Palin …

The Devil Made Them Do It  —  Senate Democrats try to dodge responsibility for ObamaCare.  —  “Powerful Democrats” subjected a top Obama administration health-care official “to withering criticism” last week, notes Walter Russell Mead.  When Gary Cohen, head of the Center for Consumer Information …

McCain defends immigration plan to angry residents  —  PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona took center stage in the national immigration debate Tuesday as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano toured the state's border with Mexico and Sen. John McCain defended his proposed immigration overhaul to an angry crowd in suburban Phoenix.

Gas prices are on a mysterious climb  —  The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline has jumped 45 cents in the past 31 days, according to AAA, the fastest run-up since 2005.  —  Retail gasoline prices have climbed for 33 days in a row.  A month ago, a gallon of regular gasoline cost $3.30 …

A Company That Runs Prisons Will Have Its Name on a Stadium  —  In recent years, where stadium naming rights could be sold, universities and professional sports teams have sold them — to airlines and banks and companies that sell beer, soda, doughnuts, cars, telecommunications, razors and baseball bats.

Republican Senator Cruz defends style a Democrat likened to McCarthyism  —  (Reuters) - First-term Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas on Tuesday staunchly defended his aggressive, in-your-face style that already is raising eyebrows in Washington and has led a Senate Democrat to suggest his tactics reminded her of McCarthyism.

Woman claims she was fired for voting for Obama  —  DAYTON —  A Kettering woman alleges in a lawsuit that she was fired for voting for President Obama, a charge the company denies.  —  Patricia Kunkle is seeking in excess of $25,000 from Dayton-based defense contractor Q-Mark …

Office Depot and OfficeMax Announce Plans to Merge, After Erroneous Release  —  Updated  —  Office Depot and OfficeMax announced plans to merge on Wednesday, just hours after an erroneous news release about the deal surfaced briefly.  —  Under the terms of the deal, Office Depot …

McAuliffe, Cuccinelli in dead heat in Virginia  —  A Quinnipiac poll in Virginia finds Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli tied in the race for governor, though it's clear many voters in the state haven't started paying attention to the race yet.

Million-Dollar Ad Campaign Aims For Bipartisan Marriage Equality Message  —  “None of us would want to be told we can't marry the person we love,” the Respect for Marriage Coalition's new TV ad states.  Featured: President Obama, former Vice President Cheney, Colin Powell and Laura Bush.

Biden: Buy Shotguns, Not Assault Weapons  —  Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Tuesday that parents interested in having firearms for protection should purchase shotguns instead of assault weapons.  —  “If you want to protect yourself, get a double-barrel shotgun,” …

How the Mossad Works: The Mystery of Israel's ‘Prisoner X’  —  An Israeli agent commits suicide in his prison cell.  Was he a traitor?  The mysterious case of “Prisoner X,” reported to be Australian-born Benjamin Zygier, provides an insight into the workings of the Mossad.

Body of missing Canadian woman, 21, found in water tank on Los Angeles hotel roof  —  Elisa Lam, of Vancouver, British Columbia, had travelled to California last month alone.  She was reported missing on Jan. 31.  Officials matched the body found inside a water tank Tuesday at the Cecil Hotel.

An Economist Who Made the Science Less Dismal  —  Armen Alchian never won a Nobel Prize in economics.  But no less than Friedrich Hayek said he ‘deserved’ one.  —  In 1975, I attended a week-long conference in Connecticut at which the star attraction was Friedrich Hayek.

Rand Paul: Obama ‘histrionics’ over cuts  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is charging that President Barack Obama is full of “histrionics” about what will happen if the sequester kicks in.  —  “I think the sequester happens and it will be in some ways a yawn because the histrionics that are coming …

Jesse Jackson Jr., Sandi Jackson expected to plead guilty  —  WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., and his wife, former Chicago Ald.  Sandi Jackson, are expected to plead guilty to federal charges today, when more details may emerge about an alleged crime spree in which he is accused …

NRA Targets Democratic Senators Up in 2014 With Local Newspaper Ads  —  The National Rifle Association will target several senators up for re-election in 2014, including Pryor.  (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)  —  The National Rifle Association will launch a print advertising …

Supreme Court Appears to Defend Patent on Soybean  —  WASHINGTON — A freewheeling and almost entirely one-sided argument at the Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated that the justices would not allow Monsanto's patents for genetically altered soybeans to be threatened by an Indiana farmer who used them without paying the company a fee.

Americans Say Preventing Terrorism Top Foreign Policy Goal  —  Nuclear weapons, energy also top foreign policy concerns for Americans  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Eighty-eight percent of Americans say preventing future acts of international terrorism should be a very important foreign policy goal of the U.S., top among nine issues.