GOP's McConnell promises no more shutdowns over ObamaCare  —  Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not allow another government shutdown as part of a strategy to repeal ObamaCare.  —  McConnell (Ky.) told The Hill in an interview Thursday afternoon that his party learned …

The Year of Living Carlos Dangerously  —  Anthony Weiner's sexting addiction nuked his political career (twice!), endangered his marriage (twice!), and turned him into a walking penis joke (forever!).  —  Marshall Sella tails Weiner through his doomed campaign for New York mayor …

Right-wing nuts nab new way to sabotage Obamacare  —  One low-profile component could prove costly  —  The final deal to avert a breach of the debt limit and end the government shutdown included what has been described as a “small concession” to Republicans: tightening the income verification measures …

Hillary Clinton, Welcome to the White House  —  She has no Democratic challenger, and the Republican Party is no longer a credible opposition force.  —  Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton smiles as she waits to answer questions from an audience at Chatham House on October 11, 2013 in London, England.

House Stenographer Yanked From Chamber Ranting About God, Freemasons  —  A government stenographer is believed to be in a Washington, DC-area hospital on Thursday after being forcibly removed from the House of Representatives chamber Wednesday night while shouting into the microphone during …

Ted Cruz left with few friends after Obamacare fight fails, government shutdown ends, debt limit rises  —  Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he wouldn't try to block the Senate agreement.  “There's nothing to be gained from delaying this vote one day or two days.  The outcome will be the same,” Cruz said.

Cory Booker makes history as he defeats Steve Lonegan in U.S. Senate election  —  NEWARK — Cory Booker's star-quality and his skill at surviving the roughhouse politics of New Jersey's biggest city took him from the mayor's office to the U.S. Senate today in a hard-fought victory over Republican iconoclast Steve Lonegan.

Documents reveal NSA's extensive involvement in targeted killing program  —  It was an innocuous e-mail, one of millions sent every day by spouses with updates on the situation at home.  But this one was of particular interest to the National Security Agency and contained clues that put …

McCain, Gohmert spar over who's ‘intelligent’  —  (CNN) - Sen. John McCain may be advising Republicans not to speak ill will of each other, but that's not stopping him from getting into a public exchange with fellow Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert.  —  Wednesday night, McCain charged that Gohmert …

Sebelius won't quit Cabinet over ObamaCare rollout woes, says brother  —  Embattled Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will not resign over glitches in the ObamaCare website despite Republican calls for her to be fired, say the Cabinet member's brother.

Mental Floss Exclusive: Our Interview with Bill Watterson! … For the December issue of mental_floss magazine, Jake Rossen managed to do something we thought was impossible—he snagged an interview with the legendary Bill Watterson!  Since we're guessing there are a few Calvin and Hobbes enthusiasts …

Eureka!  Tea partiers know science  —  A finding in a study on the relationship between science literacy and political ideology surprised the Yale professor behind it: Tea party members know more science than non-tea partiers.  —  Yale law professor Dan Kahan posted on his blog this week …

Milwaukee man gets jail time for voting twice in presidential election  —  By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel  —  Chad Gigowski said he was not part of any organized election fraud effort, just high on alcohol and drugs when he voted twice in November's presidential election.

Conservatives Learned The Wrong Lessons From The Shutdown Debacle  —  For a certain block of House conservatives, the ones who drove Speaker John Boehner toward a government shutdown and near-default against his will, the lesson of the last few weeks isn't that they overreached.

Mayor Bloomberg: ‘If I Were A Woman, I Think I Would Wear High Heels’  —  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg likes high heels, and he likes women, and he likes women in high heels best of all.  —  Bloomberg discussed his fondness for high heels with the New Yorker's Rebecca Mead …

Republicans are wasting no time in rewriting the history of their own defeat.  —  For the men and women of the U.S. Senate, Wednesday morning was a time of jubilation.  Hark—a deal was born!  Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell came bearing a bipartisan agreement that punted the debt …

Ohio Clock ticks on after government reopens  —  The Ohio Clock is ticking again.  —  The historic and grand timepiece just outside the Senate chamber, which has stood since the early 1800s, was frozen in time last Wednesday because congressional staffers usually tasked with keeping it running had been furloughed.

Tech experts: Health exchange site needs total overhaul  —  WASHINGTON — The federal health care exchange was built using 10-year-old technology that may require constant fixes and updates for the next six months and the eventual overhaul of the entire system, technology experts told USA TODAY.

GOP's huge Tea Party mess has only just begun  —  The coming months could present him with even more headaches  —  Last night, Republicans stood aside as Congress increased the debt limit and reopened the government.  In return, they got nothing.  Or more accurately, they got something …