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 …

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 …

Obama to tap ex-Pentagon official for Homeland Security  —  President Obama plans to nominate former Pentagon attorney Jeh Johnson as the next secretary of homeland security, officials said Thursday.  —  Johnson, general counsel for the Defense Department during Obama's first term …

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 …

The GOP's income verification ‘concession’ is meaningless  —  The primary reason our federal government closed for 16 days and came very close to defaulting on its debt obligation was a dispute over whether to fund the new health-care law.  Now the two parties have reached a deal to end the shutdown …

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.

Stenographer dragged off House floor after protest  —  A House of Representatives stenographer was dragged off the floor during the vote to end the partial government shutdown and raise the U.S. debt ceiling after a bizarre protest in which she began ranting at members.

Gohmert Responds to McCain's Dimwit Dig  —  After Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called Tea Party stalwart Rep. Louie Gohmert “a person of no intelligence” in an interview on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, the back and forth between the two continued Thursday with Gohmert suggesting that McCain “would be better off with ‘no intelligence.’”

Rep. Bill Young ‘gravely ill,’ family says  —  Washington (CNN) - Rep. Bill Young of Florida, the longest-serving Republican member of the House, is “gravely ill,” his family said in a statement Wednesday.  —  “[Young's] condition turned for the worse over night and he is gravely ill …

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.

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 …

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 …

Obamacare Website Violates Licensing Agreement for Copyrighted Software  —  Healthcare.gov, the federal government's Obamacare website, has been under heavy criticism from friend and foe alike during its first two weeks of open enrollment.  Repeated errors and delays have prevented many users …

Va. removes 40K from voter rolls over Democrats' objections  —  Democrats seek to have names restored; case to be heard Friday  —  Virginia elections officials say they have already purged nearly 40,000 names from the voter rolls, despite a lawsuit filed by Democrats seeking to keep those voters registered.

Sen. Cruz Places Hold on Obama Nominee  —  The shutdown may be over, but Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) isn't done making trouble for the Obama administration.  —  A spokesman for Mr. Cruz said Thursday that he has placed a hold on the nomination of former telecom lobbyist and venture capitalist Tom Wheeler …

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.