Family Research Council says 'don't send a dime' to GOP  —  Tony Perkins says religious conservatives should stop donating to the Republican Party until it clarifies its position on social issues.  —  The president of the Family Research Council, a top religious political group …

U.S. will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea: Kerry  —  (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry dismissed as “unacceptable by any standard” weeks of bellicose warnings of impending nuclear war by North Korea and said Washington would never accept the reclusive state becoming a nuclear power.

House GOP shows little appetite for Senate gun control measure  —  Growing momentum in the Senate for new gun-control legislation has failed to flow down to the House, where just a handful of House Republicans have embraced a deal to expand background checks for firearm purchases.

GOP Congressman Warns Background Checks Will Lead To A Genocide Like In Rwanda  —  Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) took the fearmongering over gun reform to new levels in a Facebook post on Thursday that compared expanding background checks to the Rwandan genocide.  —  Gun advocates and Republican lawmakers …

The Disastrous Collapse Of Kentucky's Least Effective Liberal Group  —  Whatever Progress Kentucky is trying to do, it should probably stop right now.  —  Via: Win McNamee / Getty Images  —  WASHINGTON — It's probably possible for a political group to be worse at accomplishing its core mission …

Man Gets 7 Years for Stealing Obama's Teleprompter  —  Eric Brown of Richmond, Va., agreed to longer sentence to avoid prosecution in similar crimes, officials said  —  A career criminal who stole a truck containing President Obama's audio equipment was sentenced Thursday to seven years in federal prison.

President Obama's Weirdest New Taxes  —  President Obama has plenty of big taxes in his budget proposal.  —  To achieve $1.8 trillion in new revenue, the president suggested a few of the policies he's raised while battling Republicans over the past four years: taxing higher incomes …

Newtown families: Victims turn lobbyists  —  When a lobbyist for families of Newtown shooting victims called the office of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to set up a meeting, the first response was a standard D.C. offer.  They could get a meeting with her staff, and a quick and simple “hello” from Collins herself, they were told.

Strassel: Terry McAuliffe's Solyndra  —  Running for governor of Virginia, the Democrat's main business credential is fast turning into a crony-capitalist embarrassment.  —  Turn over any green-energy rock, and wiggling underneath will be the usual creepy mix of political favoritism and taxpayer-funded handouts.

Plan your digital afterlife with Inactive Account Manager  —  Not many of us like thinking about death — especially our own.  But making plans for what happens after you're gone is really important for the people you leave behind.  So today, we're launching a new feature that makes it easy …

Never Mind Facebook; Winklevoss Twins Rule in Digital Money  —  The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler — Olympic rowers, nemeses of Mark Zuckerberg — are laying claim to a new title: bitcoin moguls.  —  The Winklevii, as they are known, have amassed since last summer what appears …

Terrorist video used in ad against McConnell  —  (CNN) - A liberal nonprofit group said Thursday it would begin airing an ad hitting Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell that uses a video produced in 2011 showing an American al Qaeda spokesperson showing how to obtain guns in the U.S.

Connecticut Sen. pleads with Murdoch: Don't air ‘NRA 500’ race  —  Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy is pleading with Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of News Corporation, which owns the Fox Sports channel, not to air a National Rifle Association-sponsored NASCAR race scheduled for this weekend.

Elizabeth Warren Tears Into Federal Regulators For Shielding Big Banks  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) embarrassed government regulators during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday morning as she demanded to know why they won't reveal how frequently big banks illegally foreclosed on homeowners.

State GOP to auction AR-15 style rifle at dinner  —  When the Washington State Republican Party holds its annual fundraising dinner this weekend, one of the items up for auction will be an AR-15 style rifle — the type of semi-automatic weapon targeted by many gun-control advocates since Adam Lanza used …

Apple Agrees to Pay $53M to Settle iPhone Warranty Lawsuit  —  Apple is agreeing to pay $53 million to settle a class action accusing the company of failing to honor warranties on iPhones and iPod Touches, according to an agreement obtained today by Wired.  —  The settlement, (.pdf) …

Retail Sales in U.S. Dropped in March by Most in Nine Months  —  Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in March by the most in nine months as employment slowed, showing households ended the first quarter on softer footing.  —  The 0.4 percent decrease, the biggest since June …

Mood of the nation: Six-year high in optimism, CNN poll shows  —  (CNN) - As the stock market continues to show record highs, the number of Americans who say things are going well in the country has reached 50% for the first time in more than six years, according to a new national survey.

Rush through Senate will kill trust in immigration reform  —  WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 18: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is sworn in as President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, by Vice President Joseph Biden during a reenactment ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber, on December 18, 2012 in Washington, DC.