Why Dr. Kermit Gosnell's Trial Should Be a Front-Page Story  —  The dead babies.  The exploited women.  The racism.  The numerous governmental failures.  It just is insanely newsworthy.  —  A procedure room at the Women's Medical Society.  / Philadelphia District Attorney's Office

RNC's celeb plan falls flat in Hollywood  —  HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — The Republican National Committee is meeting this week in the most touristy part of Tinseltown, but it's apparent the “Celebrity Task Force” recommended by last month's “autopsy” report isn't going to happen.

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 …

Congressman Pretended to Be ‘Hot’ for Cyndi Lauper  —  Lawmaker who tweeted to long-lost daughter tried to fool the press—and it worked  —  Steve Cohen, a Tennessee congressman, called Cyndi Lauper “hot” in a tweet and then abruptly deleted it.  —  Which, it turns out, was part of his secret plan.

Bold on Both Ends  —  It's time to entertain the possibility that President Obama is a right-wing extremist.  After all, look at where he's taking the country over his second term.  —  We're living in a country where 53 percent of children born to women under 30 are born out of wedlock, according to government data.

Jonathan Winters, Funny Man and Comedic Inspiration, Dies at 87  —  Jonathan Winters, the rubber-faced comedian whose unscripted flights of fancy inspired a generation of improvisational comics, and who kept television audiences in stitches with Main Street characters like Maude Frickert …

What Actually Happened To That Same-Sex Couple In The Missouri Hospital  —  There has been a lot of speculation as to what actually transpired when Roger Gorley was arrested away from his husband Allen's bedside in a Missouri hospital earlier this week.  Despite the fact Roger and Allen …

Press Release of Senator Murphy … WASHINGTON—U.S. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) today sent a letter to Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corporation, urging him not to broadcast the NASCAR NRA 500 race on Fox Sports.  Fox Sports, which is owned by News Corporation, plans to air …

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.

Marco Rubio goes all-in on immigration bill  —  Marco Rubio is preparing to go all in to support sweeping immigration legislation, offering himself up as the public face of a bill that will split the Republican Party — but that his allies hope will propel him to the front of the GOP presidential sweepstakes.

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 …

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: I love Joe Biden!  —  Oops!  Julia Louis-Dreyfus accidentally sent Vice President Joe Biden to voicemail when he called to congratulate her on winning an Emmy.  —  “I didn't answer,” the actress said with a laugh at a Washington screening on “Veep” on Thursday.

Obama asks Newtown mom to deliver his weekly address  —  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has asked a mother whose 6-year-old son was killed in the Newtown, Connecticut massacre to deliver his weekly radio address, an unusual move expected to turn up the pressure on Congress to pass tougher gun control laws.

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.

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.