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 …

NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders  —  • Agency given more than 200 numbers by government official  —  • NSA encourages departments to share their ‘Rolodexes’  —  • Surveillance produced ‘little intelligence’, memo acknowledges  —  The National Security Agency monitored …

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 …

Republicans, Sensing Weakness in Health Law Rollout, Switch Tactics  —  WASHINGTON — Emboldened by the intense public criticism surrounding the rollout of the online insurance exchange, Republicans in Congress are refocusing their efforts from denying funds for the health care law to investigating it.

‘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” …

‘Daily Show’ comments cost GOP precinct chair his post  —  RALEIGH, N.C. — A Buncombe County Republican precinct chairman has been asked to resign after making “offensive” comments on “The Daily Show.”  —  Buncombe GOP Chairman Henry Mitchell said Don Yelton officially stepped down from his position Thursday.

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.

New Budget Numbers May Kill A Medicare Age Hike  —  Raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 saves far less than previously projected, a revelation that makes the policy far less attractive in upcoming deficit reduction negotiations in Congress.  —  The long-debated policy now cuts …

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 …

Gansler says breaking up teen party was not his job  —  Attorney general has advocated against underage drinking  —  When Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler arrived at a house party of teenagers in June, he pushed through the crowd, past youngsters dancing on a table and a smattering of red plastic cups.

How I became the poster girl for liberal agitprop  —  For suggesting pundits wait before declaring the ACA a train wreck, I was called a hack - and the C-word, of course  —  I woke up Monday morning to a changed America.  After a month of news coverage focused on an extremist …

Why the 1% should pay tax at 80%  —  The Reagan-Thatcher revolution changed society's beliefs about taxes.  If we want economic growth shared fairly, we must rethink  —  In the United States, the share of total pre-tax income accruing to the top 1% has more than doubled, from less than 10% in the 1970s to over 20% today (pdf).

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.

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 …

Meanwhile, the DOJ's War on School Vouchers Continues  —  Why has the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Louisiana?  Answer: Because they seemingly want to challenge the state's highly successful voucher program, thus forcibly returning hundreds of low-income, minority children back to failing schools.

Reid: 'There's Not Going to Be a Grand Bargain'  —  Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that he expected little more from the formal House-Senate budget conference than some relief from automatic spending cuts under sequestration.  —  The Nevada Democrat called the suggestion of a …

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) …

Activist Tweets Former NSA Chief's ‘Off Record’ Phone Call On Train  —  Former National Security Agency director Michael Hayden is more used to being the one listening in on conversations than the one being eavesdropped on himself.  The tables were turned on Thursday, however …

Obama's former climate czar predicts president will reject Keystone XL  —  Former White House energy and climate czar Carol Browner on Thursday predicted President Obama will say no to building the controversial Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.  —  “Whether or not he will say no — well …

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.

Obamacare Operator Fired After Taking Call From Hannity; Hannity To Give Her A Year's Salary  —  On the top of Thursday's broadcast of his radio show, Sean Hannity revealed Erling Davis, the Obamacare operator he called early in his Monday show, got fired.  Hannity quizzed her on how well the law …

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.

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 …