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 …

Edward Snowden to meet Amnesty and Human Rights Watch at Moscow airport - live coverage  —  NSA whistleblower to meet human rights groups at Sheremetyevo airport to discuss his next steps forward as he claims US is illegally denying his right to seek asylum  —  Edward Snowden along …

One Senate staffer's theory: Mitch McConnell actually wants to get nuked  —  Perhaps McConnell wants Reid to go nuclear.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)  —  A Senate Democratic staffer e-mails with an interesting — and off-message — theory:

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

Spitzer submits signatures to get on NYC ballot  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Eliot Spitzer has met the deadline to file thousands of petition signatures for his bid to revive his political career by running for New York City comptroller.  —  Spitzer said that “over 27,000 signatures” …