Harry Reid Told Caucus That Pete Sessions Was Behind Obama Insult, Senators Say  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told his Democratic caucus last week in a private meeting that a top House Republican said to President Barack Obama, “I cannot even stand to look at you …

ObamaCare website contractors blame Obama administration  —  Principal contractors hired to build the ObamaCare website HealthCare.gov are hitting back at the Obama administration for the site's overwhelming technical problems.  —  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) …

Obama wants Marines to wear ‘girly’ hats  —  A change to the Marine Corps' uniform hats could take the hard-nosed Leathernecks from the Halls of Montezuma to the shops of Christopher Street.  —  Thanks to a plan by President Obama to create a “unisex” look for the Corps …

NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts  —  • Agency given more than 200 numbers by government official  —  • NSA encourages departments to share their ‘Rolodexes’  —  • Surveillance produced ‘little intelligence’, memo acknowledges

Hillary Clinton speaks at UB, is heckled … AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) - Former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke to a large crowd at the University at Buffalo Wednesday night, as part of the university's Distinguished Speaker Series.

Health Care Law Fails to Lower Prices for Rural Areas  —  As technical failures bedevil the rollout of President Obama's health care law, evidence is emerging that one of the program's loftiest goals — to encourage competition among insurers in an effort to keep costs low — is falling short for many rural Americans.

How The Pope Could Tear Apart The Religious Right  —  Conservative Christians revolt against the new pope's new tone.  “That man needs to read his Bible,” says one evangelical.  —  John Gara  —  WASHINGTON — As political spectators gawk at the “civil war” currently engulfing congressional Republicans …

‘Offensive’ Halloween costumes banned by US university  —  University of Colorado Boulder tells students to avoid costumes including cowboys, indians, white trash or anything potentially deemed offensive  —  University students in America have been told not to wear “offensive” …

UC Davis pepper-spray officer awarded $38,000  —  (AP Photo/The Enterprise, Wayne Tilcock, File) Photo: Wayne Tilcock, Associated Press  —  (10-23) 17:18 PDT DAVIS — A former UC Davis police officer whose pepper-spraying of protesters gained worldwide notice thanks to a viral video …

The Biggest Economy Killer: Our Government  —  The government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis inflicted a toll on the American economy, but that cost is only a fraction of the total damage that the federal government has been causing to the American economy.

The Decline of Wikipedia  —  The sixth most widely used website in the world is not run anything like the others in the top 10.  It is not operated by a sophisticated corporation but by a leaderless collection of volunteers who generally work under pseudonyms and habitually bicker with each other.

Gansler says breaking up teen party was not his job  —  Attorney general has advocated against underage drinking  —  Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler (white shirt with cell phone, right of center) is seen in a photo posted to Instagram from a senior week party in Delaware this summer.

Medicaid could be the next headache for Obamacare  —  A new phase of the Obamacare launch is coming, this one involving Medicaid.  And it could be déjà vu all over again.  —  On Nov. 1, the health law's malfunctioning enrollment system is supposed to send reams of data to states …

The Devil and Herman Cain  —  It's been two years since allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, but Herman Cain is finally fighting back.  —  The former Republican presidential hopeful gave RealClearReligion an exclusive look at evidence he'll be using in a soon-to-be published column …

Russell Brand on revolution: “We no longer have the luxury of tradition”  —  But before we change the world, we need to change the way we think.  —  When I was asked to edit an issue of the New Statesman I said yes because it was a beautiful woman asking me.

Here's The Conversation We Should Really Be Having About Obamacare And Part-Time Work  —  Republicans like to warn that Obamacare is pushing droves of people into part-time work.  —  House Speaker John Boehner has said “millions” of Americans can only find part-time work because of the law.

Why Obamacare Is Like Three Mile Island  —  I've been blogging a lot over the past week or so about the risk of an insurance market “death spiral” — where young people stay away, so the only people buying insurance are old and sick, causing the cost of insurance to rise over time and pushing ever …