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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

Don't Execute the Man Who Paralyzed Me (Guest Column)  —  Joseph Paul Franklin, who has confessed to shooting Flynt in 1978 and been convicted in a series of racially motivated murders, is set for execution in Missouri in November.  Flynt writes for THR, “I have every reason to be overjoyed with that decision, but I am anything but.”

Republicans Lost the Standoff, But They Won't Lose the House.  Unless...  The shutdown is over, but it lasted more than long enough to inflict significant damage to the Republican brand.  A plurality of voters blamed the GOP for the shutdown, poll after poll shows the GOP's favorability rating near record lows.

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 …