Bob Woodward criticizes IRS ‘fiction’  —  The Washington Post's Bob Woodward says the Obama administration has explaining to do on the IRS scandal and needs to answer questions about who knew what, when.  —  “This fiction that somehow [The IRS is] totally an independent agency is absurd,” …

Erick Erickson Shows Everything That's Wrong With The GOP  —  Conservative pundit Erick Erickson doesn't like me.  This morning he wrote 900 words about why.  —  But the main thing his post reveals is what's wrong with Erickson - and with a Republican party that is built to appeal to people like Erickson.

Emails of top Obama appointees remain a mystery  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees, including the Cabinet secretary for the Health and Human Services Department, are using secret government email accounts they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes …

Obama Names 3 to Top Appeals Court in Challenge to Republicans  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama set a confrontation with Senate Republicans in motion on Tuesday morning by naming a slate of judges to a top appeals court and daring his rivals to block their confirmations.

Military brass oppose removing sexual assault cases from chain of command  —  Military leaders on Tuesday expressed unified opposition to stripping commanders of the power to decide where sexual assault cases are prosecuted.  —  In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee …

Mississippi governor: Educational troubles began when ‘mom got in the workplace’ — VIDEO  —  Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) said Tuesday that America's educational troubles began when women began working outside the home in large numbers.  —  Bryant was participating …

The Latest Navy SEAL Book Could Impact the Military's Transgender Rules  —  In every Navy SEAL is a memoir, it seems lately.  Retired SEAL Kristin Beck's new memoir, published on Tuesday and titled Warrior Princess, is a bit different, though.  In it, Beck describes how …

Is Obama waging psychological warfare on Americans?  —  I believe that the Obama administration is conducting psychological warfare on conservative Americans.  Not only that but it is also waging this war on all Americans who previously viewed themselves, their country …

Court's DNA Ruling Brings U.S. a Step Closer to ‘Gattaca’  —  The day that DNA cheek swabs officially became the new fingerprints deserves to be marked and remembered — and not just because of the inevitable march of technology.  —  No, the Supreme Court's 5-4 holding today in Maryland v. King …

Baby boomers are killing themselves at an alarming rate, raising question: Why?  —  Last spring, Frank Turkaly tried to kill himself.  A retiree in a Pittsburgh suburb living on disability checks, he was estranged from friends and family, mired in credit card debt and taking medication for depression …

Harry Reid says immigration bill on floor next week  —  The Senate will begin considering the landmark immigration reform bill next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday morning.  —  “Even if we we've not completed action on the farm bill or the student loans proposals …

Democrats' 2014 strategy: Own Obamacare  —  Scarred by years of Republican attacks over Obamacare, with more in store next year, Democrats have settled on an unlikely strategy for the 2014 midterms: Bring it on.  —  Party strategists believe that embracing the polarizing law …

John McCain's Surprising Toast at Kissinger's 90th Birthday Party  —  At Henry Kissinger's 90th birthday party, the assembled VIP guests learned a piece of the past shared by the imprisoned Navy pilot and Nixon's secretary of state.  —  Henry Kissinger's 90th birthday party on Monday night …

Iran, Hezbollah mine Latin America for revenue, recruits, analysts say  —  (CNN) — An Argentine special prosecutor's accusation that Iran has established terrorist networks throughout Latin America has renewed debate over how big a threat that poses to the region and the United States.

Citing Stand Your Ground, Jury Acquits Man Who Killed Wife's Lover  —  As trial approaches for the man who generated national controversy over Stand Your Ground laws when he shot dead 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on a Florida street, a jury has acquitted another man under Florida's controversial law …

House Republicans broken into fighting factions  —  On New Year's Day, in a cramped room in the Capitol basement, House Republican leaders faced an angry caucus.  Democrats had negotiated them into a corner — virtually every American would be hit with a massive tax increase unless …

Gallup overhauls polls after 2012 failure  —  Gallup on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping review and overhaul of its polling methodologies after producing data that was “skewed” toward Mitt Romney in the 2012 election.  —  The pollster's final estimate of likely voters last year gave Romney a 49 percent to 48 edge over President Obama.

Average Guest Speaker At IRS Conference Made More Than $9,000  —  Between 2010 and 2012, the agency spent $50 million on such conferences.  —  The IRS spent $135,350 on 15 guest speakers at a single conference in Anaheim, according to a report by the Treasury Inspector General's report …