Official Offers Account From Libya of Benghazi Attack  —  WASHINGTON — A State Department official presented a minute-by-minute account on Wednesday of what happened during the seige of the diplomatic compound in Benghazi last Sept. 11, offering the first public testimony from an American official …

Meet Democrats' Newest Republican Crush: Ted Cruz?!?!  —  Starting around the time he launched a bogus attack on then-Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, Democrats have loved to hate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).  —  They made sure as many as people as possible saw him condescend to Sen. Dianne Feinstein …

The tragedy of US higher education  —  The tragedy of Cooper Union is endemic to most American higher education, outside a few community colleges; Cooper is just the special case where the blind rush to some kind of global greatness directly and explicitly violates the institution's founding mission.

Six Take-Aways from the Census Bureau's Voting Report  —  Today's report from the Census Bureau on the diversifying American electorate in 2012 confirms an historic turnout milestone first noted last December by the Pew Research Center, but undercuts a number of other widely-reported demographic analyses …

NYC Considering Allowing Non-Citizens To Vote  —  New York City could soon become the first major city in the country to give non-citizens the right to vote.  The proposal, which would allow certain non-citizens to vote in local elections, appears to have a veto-proof majority in the New York City Council …

Elizabeth Warren: Let Students Borrow At The Same Low Rate That Banks Get  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is reigniting a battle over student loan interest rates that infused the campaign trail last year and put Republicans in a predicament with young voters.

Body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev is buried outside Massachusetts, official says  —  WORCESTER - The body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been buried somewhere outside of Massachusetts, according to a funeral home official briefed on the situation.  —  The official said that the remains …

Lindsey Graham faces down primary challenge  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — If any Senate Republican up for re-election next year would seem ripe for a primary defeat it's Lindsey Graham.  —  Running in a conservative, Southern state that has proven friendly to insurgents in recent years …

Gomez took $281,500 home tax deduction  —  Republican US Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez claimed a $281,500 income tax deduction in 2005 for pledging not to make any visible changes to the facade of his 112-year-old Cohasset home, a concession so valuable that it is classified …

Top White House Aide Has A Secret Beer With Rep. Paul Ryan  —  On April 10, the day President Obama released his 2014 budget, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough held a secret meeting with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan at a K Street restaurant, Brasserie Beck, to talk …

POLITICO to test metered paywall  —  From the folks up top: … Also: We started experimenting with sponsored content today.

Stewart Rips Fox News Over Benghazi Coverage: ‘Denizens Of Bullsh*t Mountain Have Cried Wolf Before’  —  Jon Stewart tonight took on today's big Congressional hearing on Benghazi, and specifically on how it's become the latest way Fox News has gone all-out in covering a potential Obama administration scandal …

Are Republicans really gunning for another debt-limit showdown?  —  The federal debt limit is set to kick back into effect next weekend after a three-month hiatus, marking the start of a political game of chicken likely to culminate in the fall, when Congress will have to give President Obama a higher limit or risk a federal default.

Judiciary adopts six amendments to tighten border  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday adopted six Republican amendments to immigration reform legislation to strengthen the border.  —  One amendment sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) adds the Senate and House Judiciary Committees …