Statement from Senator Kirk on Same-Sex Marriage  —  When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others.  —  Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage.  Our time on this Earth is limited, I know that better than most.

Lawmakers Charged in Plot to Buy Spot on Mayoral Ballot  —  State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, a contractor and real estate developer who rose to become the first black president of the State Senate, and City Councilman Daniel J. Halloran III were arrested early Tuesday on charges of trying …

Obama Names Himself ‘Scientist-in-Chief’  —  At a speech this morning at the White House to outline a new science initiative, President Barack Obama named himself “Scientist-in-Chief.”  —  “I'm glad I've been promoted Scientist-in-Chief,” Obama said to laughter at the White House.

Outrage 101: Radical jailed in slay now Columbia prof  —  Former Weather Underground radical Kathy Boudin — who spent 22 years in prison for an armored-car robbery that killed two cops and a Brinks guard — now holds a prestigious adjunct professorship at Columbia University's School of Social Work, The Post has learned.

NRA plan: Let teachers carry guns  —  An NRA-backed task force on Tuesday recommended allowing teachers to carry weapons in school, while avoiding any discussion of Congress' most-talked about gun control proposals.  —  “Teachers should teach,” said former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.), the chair of the task force.

Airline to charge overweight passengers more  —  Samoa Air has become the world's first airline to implement “pay as you weigh” flights, meaning overweight passengers pay more for their seats.  —  “This is the fairest way of travelling,” chief executive of Samoa Air, Chris Langton, told ABC Radio.

Cruz to test 2016 waters with South Carolina trip  —  Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) - He's been in Washington only three months, but U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is already planning a pilgrimage to a critical presidential primary state.  —  The outspoken Cruz, a conservative attorney …

Pat Robertson Blames Ivy League Schools For Lack Of Miracles In America  —  It may have been April 1st yesterday, but televangelist Pat Robertson wasn't kidding when he told a viewer that Americans aren't experiencing God's miracles because they are too “sophisticated.”

Guns Are Now Required For Citizens Of Nelson, Georgia  —  NELSON, Ga. (AP) — Backers of a newly adopted ordinance requiring gun ownership in a small north Georgia town acknowledge they were largely seeking to make a point about gun rights.  —  The ordinance in the city of Nelson …

Unemployment in Euro Zone Reaches a Record 12%  —  PARIS — While the euro zone has been transfixed lately by the Cyprus meltdown, another and potentially bigger European crisis has continued to simmer: record-high unemployment.  —  Spending cuts and tax increases aimed at trimming debt …

Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide  —  WASHINGTON — It's now an article of faith that dire sequestration warnings were overblown.  —  New studies downsize potential job losses because of the federal budget cuts.  Agencies have figured ways to ensure that the more alarming effects …

Tennessee's Colossally Bad Plan to Change Its Primary System  —  You can hear bad ideas almost every day.  But only occasionally do you hear a colossally bad, ill-conceived idea, one that leaves you wondering who dreamed it up.  —  Tennessee state Sen. Frank Nicely, a Republican from Strawberry Plains …

Keystone XL Pipeline Draws Broad Support  —  Continuing Partisan Divide in Views of Global Warming  —  OVERVIEW  —  As the Obama administration approaches a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, a national survey finds broad public support for the project.

What Marco Rubio is thinking  —  Immigration reform is alive and kicking because Sen. Marco Rubio was there at conception.  It will likely die if Rubio bolts in the end.  —  The possibility that Rubio could walk away, more than any other dynamic, is shaping the final details of new immigration laws, participants tell us.

Ben Carson blasts ‘vicious,’ white liberal critics as ‘the most racist out there’  —  Dr. Ben Carson on Tuesday blasted his critics for heat he's taken recently over controversial remarks on gay marriage, calling his white liberal detractors “the most racist out there.”

Keyes: Marriage Equality is the ‘Archetype of all Crimes Against Humanity’  —  Alan Keyes once again appeared on Stan Solomon's talk show, this time to discuss their stringent opposition to marriage equality.  —  After host, Steve Davis, claimed that just because they “oppose homosexual marriage …

Donor Says He Sought Menendez on Medicare Without Breaking Law  —  Salomon Melgen, the Florida political donor at the center of a criminal probe, said he and Senator Robert Menendez are “like brothers” who spoke weekly, yet his companies never benefited and he broke no laws.

SEC Ex-Chief Lands at Consultant  —  Schapiro Is Latest Former U.S. Regulator to Join Promontory Financial; ‘No Revolving Door’  —  Less than four months after stepping down as the top U.S. securities regulator, Mary Schapiro is joining a consulting firm that has built a reputation …