Clinton sought end-run around counterterrorism bureau on night of Benghazi attack, witness will say  —  On the night of Sept. 11, as the Obama administration scrambled to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key aide effectively tried to cut …

Gore Is Romney-Rich With $200 Million After Bush Defeat  —  In 1999, Al Gore, then U.S. vice president and a Democratic candidate for president, sold $6,000 worth of cows.  —  The former senator, who spent most of his working life in Congress, had a net worth of about $1.7 million and assets …

U.N. has testimony that Syrian rebels used sarin gas: investigator  —  (Reuters) - U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria's civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday.

The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer  —  By Robert Rector and Jason Richwine, Ph.D.  —  Executive Summary  —  Unlawful immigration and amnesty for current unlawful immigrants can pose large fiscal costs for U.S. taxpayers.

Sanford has momentum in SC-1  —  PPP's final poll of the special election in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District finds a race that's too close to call, with Republican Mark Sanford leading Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch 47-46.  The 1 point lead for Sanford represents a 10 point reversal …

Rush Limbaugh may leave Cumulus  —  The Rush Limbaugh Program is considering ending its affiliation agreement with Cumulus Media at the end of this year, a move that would bring about one of the biggest shakeups in talk radio history, a source close to the show tells POLITICO.

None Dare Call It Treason  —  As Brother Benen notes this morning, the National Rifle Association's new president, James Porter of Birmingham, Alabama, likes to talk about the importance of the Second Amendment as a way to ensure the American people will be able to “resist tyranny”—i.e. …

Kentucky Town Rejects Girl's Gun Death as a Symbol  —  BURKESVILLE, Ky. — Last Monday, Kristian Sparks and his sister, Caroline, visited a Fred's Super Dollar store here.  A store manager recalled that it was an ordinary shopping trip, saying that the boy was outgoing and energetic …

The Chutzpah Caucus  —  At this point the economic case for austerity — for slashing government spending even in the face of a weak economy — has collapsed.  Claims that spending cuts would actually boost employment by promoting confidence have fallen apart.

German euro founder calls for ‘catastrophic’ currency to be broken up  —  Oskar Lafontaine, the German finance minister who launched the euro, has called for a break-up of the single currency to let southern Europe recover, warning that the current course is “leading to disaster”.

Stories behind Robin Hood's 12-12-12 concert  —  This week, Scott Pelley brought us the remarkable story of the Robin Hood Foundation, a unique charity that has figured out how to (as Pelley put it) shake wealthy donors “by their ankles” in order to help New Yorkers living in poverty.

Justin Bieber Breaks Istanbul Concert For Muslim Call To Prayer  —  Justin Bieber has had what might be politely termed an awkward spring so far, whether he was joking about whether Anne Frank would have been a fan of his—an idea brilliantly satirized in the New Yorker by Yoni Brenner …

Gang of Eight plots path to Senate supermajority  —  Senate immigration negotiators are targeting as many as two dozen Republicans for a show-of-force majority — which they believe may be the only way a reform bill will have the momentum to force the House to act.