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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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).

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 …

New Poultry Plant Rule Would Give Food Inspectors 1/3 Of A Second To Examine A Chicken  —  A new food inspection rule proposed by the US Department of Agriculture would let poultry plants conduct their own inspections, removing federal food inspectors from the assembly line.

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 …

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.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Shows You What a Liberal Budget Looks Like  —  CPC members unveil their sequestration replacement plan.  —  Official photo  —  There's an unfortunate tendency in the media to define the polls of the debate as being between the median member …

MSNBC ending Ed Schultz's weekday show  —  MSNBC host Ed Schultz announced tonight that, as of April, he will no longer host his weeknight primetime show.  But Schultz will stay with the network, hosting a two-hour program on Saturday and Sunday nights, he said.

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.