Ryan: 2016 White House bid now ‘more realistic,’ rules out running for Speaker  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says the prospect of running for president has become “more realistic” to him but he will not think about a 2016 bid before completing deficit-reduction talks.

Jeb Bush looks favorably on GOP's direction  —  (CNN) - As major voices within the Republican Party evaluate the GOP's next steps forward, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sees promise.  —  “I'm excited that I think we're seeing the renewal of the conservative movement in the Republican Party …

House GOP leaders blindsided by defections on spending vote  —  House Republican leaders have a new problem.  They can't count on their members to support them on procedural votes.  —  Sixteen Republicans defected Wednesday in a vote on the rule governing consideration of a government-funding bill meant …

GABBY GIFFORDS' HUSBAND BUYS AR-15  —  Mark E. Kelly, gun-control proponent and husband to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, recently purchased an AR-15 (an “assault weapon,” he called it)—which he now says he intended as an illustration of the need for more stringent gun laws.

Two Senators  —  This is from not-for-attribution interviews with two Republican senators who attended the dinner with the president on Wednesday night at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington.  —  One was heartened and impressed by the meeting while retaining his skepticism as to whether …

Susan Rice as national security adviser?  U.N. ambassador said to be front-runner.  —  UNITED NATIONS — Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who lost out in a bruising bid for the job of secretary of state, may have the last laugh.  —  Rice has emerged as far and away …

Gone Deficit Gone  —  So says the CBO, although not directly.  —  Anyone who is serious (as opposed to Serious) about matters fiscal knows that it's highly misleading just to focus on the raw deficit numbers (ONE TRILLION DOLLARS), for two reasons.  —  First, fluctuations in the deficit tend …

Ashley Judd Senate Run: Actress, Activist Planning To Declare Candidacy, Sources Say  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ashley Judd, the 44-year-old actress and social activist, has told key advisers and political figures that she is planning to announce her candidacy for U.S. Senate here this spring.

Queen fights for gay rights: Monarch makes historic pledge on discrimination and hints that if Kate DOES have a girl, that means equal rights to the throne too  —  The Queen will tomorrow back an historic pledge to promote gay rights and ‘gender equality’ in one of the most controversial acts of her reign.

U.S. Air Force stops reporting data on Afghan drone strikes  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With debate intensifying in the United States over the use of drone aircraft, the U.S. military said on Sunday that it had removed data about air strikes carried out by unmanned planes in Afghanistan from its monthly air power summaries.

How a U.S. Citizen Came to Be in America's Cross Hairs  —  WASHINGTON — One morning in late September 2011, a group of American drones took off from an airstrip the C.I.A. had built in the remote southern expanse of Saudi Arabia.  The drones crossed the border into Yemen …