We Won't Back Down on ObamaCare  —  Fighting a law that is unfair, unworkable and unaffordable is reasonable and necessary.  —  Now that the government shutdown has ended and the president has preserved ObamaCare for the time being, it's worth explaining why my organization, the Heritage Foundation …

At Al Smith Dinner, Colbert Doesn't Spare Politicians  —  When the comedian Stephen Colbert took to the dais on Thursday for his keynote speech at the Al Smith white-tie charity dinner, the annual gathering of New York's Roman Catholic elite, he immediately flashed a sly glance at Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, sitting a few seats away.

The Truth About the Obamacare Rollout  —  The feds botched the website.  But the states are doing much better.  —  The federal government is open and paying its bills, which means you can start looking at the other big story from the past few weeks: The startup of Obamacare's marketplaces.

Here's a ‘grand bargain’ for ya: Tax cuts for $1 trillion in infrastructure spending  —  With the government shutdown over, the serious political discussion moves to the budget talks, already in progress.  But it's already obvious the talks are likely to go nowhere, because Republicans won't give any ground on new revenues.

Obamacare Website Failure Threatens Health Coverage For Millions Of Americans  —  A broken website imperils the largest expansion of the American safety net since the Great Society.  —  More than two weeks into the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov, the website created …

PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: BERNIE SANDERS  —  At a time when politicians—particularly members of Congress—are almost universally reviled and blind partisanship seems to dictate the fate of every piece of legislation, one U.S. senator stands out as a unique voice.  —  Bernie Sanders has been a senator from Vermont since 2006.

Saudi Arabia Rejects Security Council Seat  —  LONDON — Assailing what it called double standards at the United Nations, Saudi Arabia took the surprising step Friday of declining an invitation to take a rotating seat on the Security Council just one day after it was chosen to join the body for a two-year term.

Obama nominates former Pentagon lawyer to replace Napolitano  —  President Obama on Friday officially named his former top lawyer at the Pentagon as his choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security.  —  “He demonstrated again and again the qualities that will make him a strong secretary of Homeland Security.”

McConnell challenger nabs big endorsement  —  Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) primary challenger got a boost Friday with the endorsement of a prominent national conservative group, the Senate Conservatives Fund.  —  The endorsement of Matt Bevin comes just days after the fund blasted McConnell …

Health Website Woes Widen as Insurers Get Wrong Data  —  Insurers say the federal health-care marketplace is generating flawed data that is straining their ability to handle even the trickle of enrollees who have gotten through so far.

Trust in Government Nears Record Low, But Most Federal Agencies Are Viewed Favorably  —  62% Have Positive View of Federal Workers  —  Public trust in the government, already quite low, has edged even lower in a survey conducted just before the Oct. 16 agreement to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.

On tape, Gov. LePage justifies cutting taxes for millionaires with wildly inaccurate claim  —  LePage holds a chart during a 2010 debate.  - Robert F. Bukaty |  BDN  —  A hallmark of Governor Paul LePage's administration has been his advocacy for income and estate tax breaks …

Republican Civil War Erupts: Business Groups v. Tea Party  —  A battle for control of the Republican Party has erupted as an emboldened Tea Party moved to oust senators who voted to reopen the government while business groups mobilized to defeat allies of the small-government movement.

APNewsBreak: Walker calls for positive GOP message  —  MADISON, Wis. — Republican Gov. Scott Walker is using his new book to renew his criticism of 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and raise his own national profile as a reformer who took on public sector unions and won.

Ted Cruz Failed To Disclose Ties To Caribbean Holding Company  —  An old college friendship led to financial entanglement with a Jamaican private equity firm and a British Virgin Islands holding company.  Neither was disclosed during his 2012 campaign.  —  Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz …

Kansas Supreme Court Suspends Ex-Attorney General Over Abortion Investigation  —  The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday indefinitely suspended former Attorney General Phillip Kline (R), who investigated abortion doctor George Tiller, from the practice of law in the state.

Redskins and reason  —  In re the (Washington) Redskins.  Should the name be changed?  —  I don't like being lectured by sportscasters about ethnic sensitivity.  Or advised by the president of the United States about changing team names.  Or blackmailed by tribal leaders playing the race card.

Noonan: The Wisdom of ‘Mr. Republican’  —  What advice would Robert Taft have for the tea party and the GOP establishment?

How the GOP Slowly Went Insane  —  The current moment in politics came about slowly, not suddenly, but it doesn't make it any less of a national emergency.  —  When I was a kid, all I knew about Michael Jackson was that he was crazy.  He had a monkey named Bubbles and some kind of oxygen chamber …

White House to resume tours  —  The White House will reopen for tours to the public next month, a Secret Service official confirmed to The Hill on Friday.  —  Tours will resume on a reduced or limited schedule beginning on Nov. 5 through at least Jan. 15, when the recently negotiated continuing resolution is set to expire.

Four things we learned from government shutdown  —  (CNN) — Whew, it's all over, folks — the twin crises of government shutdown and national default countdown.  At least for now.  —  This one wasn't easy.  And we'll be talking about it for a while.  —  That's just one of the four lessons …

Cory Booker Plans To Start Marrying Same-Sex Couples At 12:01 A.M. Monday  —  The senator-elect is slated to marry the couples in the wake of a trial-court ruling requiring marriage equality in the Garden State.  The only question is whether the New Jersey Supreme Court will put same-sex couples' weddings …

Walmart employee fired after trying to help assault victim in store parking lot  —  HARTLAND, MI (WXYZ) - “The last thing I expected was to not have a job,” said Kristopher Oswald, 30, who was fired from Walmart this week after he intervened to help a woman who was apparently being assaulted in the parking lot of the store.

Why Only Republicans Can Save Us From the Tea Party  —  Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon Delicious  —  There is only one route to restoring health to the American polity, comity to its dialogue, constructive and collegial approaches to governance, an end to extortion and a restoration …

Yes, politics was once friendly  —  A NEW NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds that 78 percent of us think the country's headed in the wrong direction.  The true surprise is the 14 percent who think that things are getting better.  —  Government shutdowns that once amounted to a couple of days are now more than a couple of weeks.