Senators near a deal on background checks for most private gun sales  —  A bipartisan group of senators is on the verge of a deal that would expand background checks to all private firearms sales with limited exemptions, but significant disagreements remain on the issue of keeping records …

The big sequester gamble: How badly will the cuts hurt?  —  Evan Vucci/AP - President Barack Obama speaks in Chicago Feb. 15, 2013.  The president and congressional Republicans each seem content with the political ground they hold and are prepared to let across-the-board spending cuts take effect on March 1.

On the sequester, the American people ‘moved the goalposts’  —  I don't agree with my colleague Bob Woodward, who says the Obama administration is “moving the goalposts” when they insist on a sequester replacement that includes revenues.  I remember talking to both members of the Obama administration …

Political movies look to win big at Oscars  —  Political movies are expected to rake in the trophies at Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony.  —  “Argo,” a film about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, is favored to win the biggest prize of the night: Best Picture.

Violent, Drunk and Holding a Gun  —  Multiple mass shootings by deranged young men have made keeping firearms out of the hands of mentally ill people a big part of the gun debate.  —  Given the enormity of those crimes, that is understandable.  Federal law does, in fact …

Ted Cruz Responds—And Still Sees Red at Harvard Law  —  Senator Ted Cruz has responded to The New Yorker's report that he accused Harvard Law School of having had “twelve” Communists who “believed in the overthrow of the U.S. Government” on its faculty when he attended in the early nineties.

UK's top cardinal accused of ‘inappropriate acts’ by priests  —  Three priests and former priest report Cardinal Keith O'Brien to Vatican over claims stretching back 33 years  —  Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain …

Major Banks Aid in Payday Loans Banned by States  —  Major banks have quickly become behind-the-scenes allies of Internet-based payday lenders that offer short-term loans with interest rates sometimes exceeding 500 percent.  —  With 15 states banning payday loans, a growing number of the lenders …

Michael Goldfarb Gleeful Provocateur at Intersection of Many Worlds  —  At 11:42 a.m. on Feb. 14, a conservative online magazine called The Washington Free Beacon posted a dispatch about a speech Chuck Hagel gave in 2007 in which it said he called the State Department “an adjunct to the Israeli foreign minister's office.”

Proposed design of NC illegal immigrant licenses sparks concern  —  RALEIGH, N.C. - A new driver's license expected to be issued to some illegal immigrants in North Carolina has prompted state lawmakers and immigrant rights groups to voice concerns over the proposal.

Juan Williams: Liberal media will ‘shut you down, stab you, kill you, fire you’ if you disagree [VIDEO]  —  Fox News political analyst and “Special Report” panelist Juan Williams said in an interview with The Daily Caller's Ginni Thomas that mainstream media outlets “stab” and “kill” dissenting voices.

McCain: Backing immigration reform won't hurt GOP lawmakers in primaries  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that he didn't think Republican lawmakers would be hurt in GOP primaries if they supported a comprehensive immigration overhaul.  —  McCain said he thought that GOP office holders …