Welcome to the Republican Party's make-believe fight to defund Obamacare.  —  If you're in a hurry, and you can only memorize one fact about the coming congressional debt and budget war, try this: There will be no “defunding of Obamacare.”  It's impossible for Republicans to admit it …

Spitting on Their Graves: Democrats Leave Benghazi Hearing Before Testimony From Families of Victims  —  During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused …

What climate change?  Fewer people than EVER believe the world is really warming up  —  CLIMATE change scepticism is rapidly increasing in the UK with a FIFTH of people now unconvinced the world's temperature is changing.  —  An iceberg melts off Ammassalik Island in Eastern Greenland [AP]

EXCLUSIVE: Two decades after her affair with Bill Clinton, Gennifer Flowers reveals they'd be together now if it wasn't for Chelsea and how former president confided in her that Hillary was bisexual  — She bitterly regrets rejecting him when he last begged to see her and says he's the ‘love of her life’

Why Iran seeks constructive engagement  —  Hassan Rouhani is president of Iran.  —  Three months ago, my platform of “prudence and hope” gained a broad, popular mandate.  Iranians embraced my approach to domestic and international affairs because they saw it as long overdue.

Poison at the heart of Labour: Damaging questions for Miliband and Balls as explosive book reveals Brown's spin doctor ran smear campaigns from Downing Street  —  The toxic culture of spin, smears and feuding at the heart of New Labour is laid bare today in an explosive political memoir.

Navy Yard rampage began with gunman's colleagues, sources and witnesses say  —  The gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday began his rampage by heading directly to the fourth floor and shooting people who worked with him, and authorities are investigating whether …

Pricing Glitch Afflicts Rollout of Online Health Exchanges … Less than two weeks before the launch of insurance marketplaces created by the federal health overhaul, the government's software can't reliably determine how much people need to pay for coverage, according to insurance executives and people familiar with the program.

Republican Launches Personal Attack Against Keystone XL Activist At Congressional Hearing  —  On Thursday, a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline ended with an ugly exchange between a Republican congressman and a Nebraska grassroots organizer.

Americans Fault Mental Health System Most for Gun Violence  —  Half say gun laws should be stricter, down from 58% after Newtown  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Forty-eight percent of Americans blame the mental health system “a great deal” for mass shootings in the United States, unchanged from January 2011.

Rand Paul says recent GOP wins a roadmap for party's future  —  CHANTILLY, Va. — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said on Thursday that Republicans have been “winning” recent Washington battles and laid out a roadmap for how the party can use the victories to appeal to key voting blocks that fueled President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election.

Pelosi unplugged  —  Striking a tone of disgust, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi ridicules the GOP as obsessed with its loathing of President Obama and hell-bent on hurting him politically, regardless the cost.  She assigns little to no blame to the president (even though Democrats privately …

DOJ spox to USA Today: ‘I will save what I have for another outlet’  —  A Department of Justice spokesperson who initially offered to provide sources to USA Today has reversed that decision on the grounds that the reporter was “biased” and would not forego his story even if the sources undercut its premise.

The Crazy Party  —  Early this year, Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, made headlines by telling his fellow Republicans that they needed to stop being the “stupid party.”  Unfortunately, Mr. Jindal failed to offer any constructive suggestions about how they might do that.