Feinstein Snaps At Cruz: 'I'm Not A Sixth Grader' (VIDEO)  —  Republican Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, rankled the nerves of Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday during a contentious hearing on legislation, introduced by the California Democrat, that would reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons.

Former Web Producer Indicted in California for Conspiring with “Anonymous” Members to Attack Internet News Site  —  A former web producer for a Tribune Company-owned television station in Sacramento, Calif., was charged today in an indictment for allegedly conspiring with members of the hacker group …

Dems plotting to lay a tax trap for GOP  —  I'm told that national Democrats are planning to mount a major campaign to hammer Republican candidates — particularly ones in swing areas — over a specific aspect of the Paul Ryan budget: The possibility that it could result in middle class tax hikes.

Obama to headline April DCCC fundraiser in Calif.  —  President Obama will headline his first Democratic fundraiser of the 2014 election cycle at an event next month in San Francisco with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif).  —  Invitations for the April 4 event …

Paul chastises ‘stale and moss-covered’ GOP establishment  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday told conservative activists the Republican Party had grown “stale and moss covered” and said the GOP needs a more libertarian approach that makes freedom the movement's defining principle.

Religious right calls Chief Justice Roberts' adoption of 2 kids “second best”  —  It's already being called the religious right's “47% video.”  John Eastman, the chairman of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the lead religious right organization fighting against marriage equality for gay couples …

Baptist pastor: Sex with underage girl ‘is exactly what Christ desires’  —  The former pastor of a Indiana megachurch who is awaiting sentencing in a sex crimes case told a 17-year-old girl that Jesus wanted her to have sexual relations with him.  —  Federal prosecutors on Wednesday released letters …

Sources: Benghazi suspect detained in Libya  —  (CNN) — A man suspected of involvement in the September attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi is being held in Libya, according to two sources who have spoken with CNN.  —  Both sources confirmed the man's name as Faraj al-Shibli (also spelled Chalabi).

Dick Morris Delivers Bad News To Republicans: Give Up On Roe V. Wade  —  “Well, we lost,” said Republican strategist Dick Morris as he took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside of suburban Washington, D.C., on Thursday.  And in order to win the next election …

Chris Hayes to Take Over 8 P.M. Slot on MSNBC  —  Chris Hayes will take over the 8 p.m. time slot on MSNBC in the next month, the channel is expected to announce on Thursday morning, the day after the current host of that hour, Ed Schultz, said he was moving from the weekdays to the weekends.

Reopen the White House doors to tourists  —  THE DECISION to drop White House tours always had a whiff of what's known as Washington Monument syndrome.  The ham-handed tactic is employed when government is faced with budget cuts and officials go after the services that are most visible and appreciated by the public.

LHC cements Higgs boson identification  —  The LHC “sees” the Higgs in the debris produced when proton particles collide  —  Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider say the particle outlined in July 2012 looks increasingly to be a Higgs boson.  —  The Higgs, long theorised as the means …

Exclusive: Court Docs Reveal Blackwater's Secret CIA Past  —  It was the U.S. military's most notorious security contractor—but it may also have been a virtual extension of the CIA.  Eli Lake reports.  —  Last month a three-year-long federal prosecution of Blackwater collapsed.

Why Gun Makers Fear the NRA  —  In the days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre on Dec. 14, executives with a half-dozen major U.S. gun manufacturers contacted the National Rifle Association.  The firearm industry representatives didn't call the NRA, which they support with millions …

Religion Among Americans Hits Low Point, As More People Say They Have No Religious Affiliation: Report  —  The number of Americans who claim to have no religious affiliation is the highest it has ever been since data on the subject started being collected in the 1930s, new research has found.

In meeting with Senate GOP, president says he's not setting a trap on deficit  —  President Obama pledged in a private meeting with Senate Republicans on Thursday to challenge his own party on entitlement reform.  —  He also asked Republicans not to believe conspiracy theories that he is pushing …

Grand jury investigating Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), people familiar with probe say  —  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 …

Obama Says Iran A Year Away From Nuclear Weapon  —  JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran is about a year away from developing a nuclear weapon and the United States remains committed to doing everything in its power to prevent that from happening, President Barack Obama said in an exclusive interview aired Thursday on Israeli TV.