Escort says Menendez prostitution claims were made up  —  View Photo Gallery — Sen. Robert Menendez: Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has been embroiled in a controversy involving his relations with a Miami campaign contributor and the awarding of a security contract at a port in the Dominican Republic.

Theatrical Slut Shaming: Daily Caller Attacks Ashley Judd For Nude Scenes  —  It's a sign of how anxious the right wing is about the possibility that Ashley Judd might run for Senate against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that the attacks on her have geared up before she's even formally entered the race.

Jeb Bush's Immigration Flip Flop Stuns Reformers  —  After years of building a reputation as the “good” Republican on immigration, Jeb Bush shocked the reform community on Monday by ruling out a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a position solidly to the right of prominent GOPers like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

“In the real world we were kidding ourselves”  —  Newt Gingrich talks to Salon about why he and his party were so wrong about the election and the future of the GOP  —  There was a popular theory for much of the 2012 Republican presidential campaign that Newt Gingrich wasn't actually running …

Pundits blowing it on sequester debate  —  Republicans are waving around a column by the New York Times' Bill Keller that pins the blame for the sequester on the President.  The title is “Obama's fault,” and Keller's effort is reminiscent of plenty of other punditry we've seen that adopts …

Empathy For the Devil  —  At New York Magazine, Jason Zengerle's got a long article on Mark Sanford's fall and rise, focusing on his very touchy relationship with his ex-wife Jenny, who could have easily preempted his comeback congressional campaign with one of her own, and could sink his today with a few tart words.

Obama job approval tumbles  —  President Obama's job approval rating took a hit over the weekend, falling to its lowest level in the Gallup three-day average since his reelection.  —  His approval rating was 46 percent between Feb 29 and March 2, down from 53 percent a week earlier.

Apple's Planned ‘IWatch’ Could Be More Profitable Than TV  —  While Tim Cook has dropped hints that Apple Inc. (AAPL) is hard at work on a television to drive the next era of growth, the company's wristwatch-style device, still in development, may prove more profitable.

Recovery in U.S. Lifting Profits, Not Adding Jobs  —  With the Dow Jones industrial average flirting with a record high, the split between American workers and the companies that employ them is widening and could worsen in the next few months as federal budget cuts take hold.

One study explains why it's tough to pass liberal laws  —  Last year, a group of political scientists took a random sample of state legislators and asked them a slew of questions, most of which boiled down to: “What do your constituents think about policy?”  Do they support gay marriage?

The Bi-Sexual T**d in the Gay Wedding Punchbowl  —  The next time you're at a “gay ' wedding with political, media or other important pro-gay-marriage celebrities, and one of them gets up with a glass of wedding punch to toast Partner A and Partner B for their courage to “be themselves,” …

Bill Cosby Slams Republicans Who Sat Through SOTU: As Bad As Civil Rights-Era Segregationists  —  One of the key issues currently being decided by the Supreme Court is whether or not racism has ended sufficiently to gut the Voting Rights Act, or as conservative hero Justice Antonin Scalia calls it, “racial entitlement.”

House GOP rolls out stop gap spending plan  —  House Republicans rolled out their answer Monday to keeping the government funded through September: a six-month stop gap bill that addresses some of the hot spots after sequestration but still locks in non-defense appropriations below even what Rep. Paul Ryan's budget demanded last spring.

GOP Congresswoman: I Opposed Domestic Violence Bill Because It Protected Too Many Groups  —  Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday openly admitted that she opposed the latest reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) because it included protections for LGBT, Native American, and undocumented victims of domestic violence.

Florida Medicaid expansion suffers legislative setback  —  (Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott's plan to expand Medicaid coverage to cover about 1 million more poor people suffered a setback on Monday when the proposal failed to make it out of a key state legislative committee hearing.

Olbermann Angling for Return to ESPN  —  Keith Olbermann was in Los Angeles on Friday being deposed for a reported $70 million lawsuit he filed against his most recent employer, Current TV, with the trial expected to begin in May.  Whether the court rules in favor of Olbermann or the network …

Gov. Chris Christie fumes over sequester  —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Monday ripped Washington, D.C., for failing to get a deal to avert the sequester, charging “real leadership” was AWOL.  —  “I don't understand it, I don't understand why they haven't fixed it already.

Hill Poll: President's support for Israel found wanting by many voters  —  Three times as many voters believe the Obama administration is not supportive enough of Israel as believe it is too supportive, according to a new poll for the Hill.  —  The proportion of voters who now say the president does …

As Automatic Budget Cuts Go Into Effect, Poor May Be Hit Particularly Hard  —  WASHINGTON — The $85 billion in automatic cuts working their way through the federal budget spare many programs that aid the poorest and most vulnerable Americans, including the Children's Health Insurance Program and food stamps.

‘Batman’ brings in suspect to Bradford police  —  Police said the costumed man did not reveal his identity  —  A man dressed as the caped crusader Batman has handed over a wanted man at a Bradford police station before disappearing into the night.  —  Police said the costumed crime-fighter marched …