Pass the Bill!  —  It's beginning to look as though we're not going to get an immigration reform law this year.  House Republicans are moving in a direction that will probably be unacceptable to the Senate majority and the White House.  Conservative commentators like my friends Bill Kristol …

Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security chief, to head UC  —  U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is being named the next president of the 10-campus UC system.  (Alex Wong / Getty Images / July 18, 2012)  —  Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona …

Rights groups summoned to meet fugitive Snowden  —  (Reuters) - Former intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden asked to meet human rights groups at a Moscow airport on Friday to discuss what he called threatening and illegal behavior by the United States to prevent him gaining asylum.

Obama's Alinskyite Administration  —  Judicial Watch, a conservative legal foundation, has used the Freedom of Information Act to uncover documents that show Eric Holder's Justice Department used a “community relations” unit to support and stage-manage public protests in Florida …

Bob McDonnell's stunning fall from grace  —  In 2010, the political world pegged Bob McDonnell as a president in the making.  Last year, they put him on every VP list.  As recently as May, they called the popular Virginia governor a political model for his would-be successors in Richmond, Democrat and Republican alike.

Another IRS Scandal Waiting to Happen  —  Federal Elections Commissioner Donald McGahn wants to rein in the bureaucracy of this sensitive agency.  The political left is furious.  —  The Obama administration claims it wants to ensure that the rank political abuse perpetrated by the Internal Revenue Service is never repeated.

Coming to Do Good, Staying to Do Well  —  For 20 years, since the weekend of Bill Clinton's first inauguration, I have rented against all financial prudence an apartment in Washington, D.C. even though I really live in Manhattan.  So, at least in a real-estate sense, I can rightfully claim …

Could “North Colorado” be America's 51st state?  —  PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO  —  There's a growing effort to create a 51st state out of parts of northeast Colorado and southwestern Nebraska.  —  Ten counties started talking about seceding last month.  Now some people in Lincoln and Cheyenne counties …

New front opens in Syria as rebels say al Qaeda attack means war  —  (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said on Friday the assassination of one of their top commanders by al Qaeda-linked militants was tantamount to a declaration of war, opening a new front for the Western-backed fighters struggling against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Who wins in a Clinton-Christie 2016 showdown?  —  Washington (CNN) - Call it a very early look at what could possibly happen in November 2016.  —  According to a new national poll, Hillary Clinton would top New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in hypothetical presidential election showdowns.

Clinton supporter suspected of illegal donations  —  Employees of a Washington, D.C.-based accounting firm that federal prosecutors called an “assembly line for illegal campaign contributions” donated more than $500,000 to federal candidates and committees over the past 10 years …

Harry Reid on nuclear option: ‘I ate sh—’ on nominees  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's threat to change filibuster rules is supposed to narrowly focus on presidential nominees to the executive branch.  —  But his potential move to invoke the “nuclear option” is raising a bigger …

Greek unemployment rate scales new high in April  —  (Reuters) - Greece's jobless rate scaled a new high in April, as a crippling recession takes its toll after more than three years of austerity implemented in exchange for funds under an international bailout deal.

Exclusive: Rick Perry's October trip to Israel sign of another White House bid  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that he will visit Israel in October, a move that signals to the political world that he is seriously considering making another presidential run in 2016.

Eliot Spitzer submits signatures in N.Y.C. race  —  Eliot Spitzer submitted 27,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot in the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller tonight, an effort completed less than four days after a rocky start.  —  Spitzer delivered the signatures …

Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages  —  • Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism  —  • Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch  —  • Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls