G.O.P. Weighs Limiting Clout of Right Wing  —  Leaders of the Republican establishment, alarmed by the emergence of far-right and often unpredictable Tea Party candidates, are pushing their party to rethink how it chooses nominees and advocating changes they say would result in the selection of less extreme contenders.

Sebelius Bombshell: Employer Based Plans Will Face Same Grandfathering Caveats as Lost Individual Plans  —  Testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday about the failure of the Obamacare rollout, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was grilled about President Obama's false promise …

How ObamaCare Rips Off the ‘Young Healthies’  —  If universal coverage is the goal, inexpensive, simple catastrophic health plans will do.  —  When ObamaCare is under attack, its defenders retreat to several well-worn claims.  Among them is a provision that compels insurance companies …

Rand Paul Takes a Swipe at Chris Christie for Sandy Ads  —  He didn't name any names, but it's clear Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., still has a bone to pick with N.J. Gov. Chris Christie and his “mug” that was all over TV after superstorm Sandy.  —  During a Senate committee hearing on post-Sandy recovery efforts …

Clunker progressivism  —  Barack Obama's presidency has become a feast of failures whose proliferation protects their author from close scrutiny of any one of them.  Now, however, we can revisit one of the first and see it as a harbinger of progressivism's downward stumble to HealthCare.gov.

C.I.A. Is Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data  —  WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company's vast database of phone records, which includes Americans' international calls, according to government officials.

Pope Francis Kisses Severely Disfigured Man And Prays With Him  —  Pope Francis blessed a man with facial deformities during today's general audience at the Vatican.  —  Pope Francis was departing St. Peter's Square after Wednesday's general audience when he saw a severely disfigured man amidst the crowd of worshippers.

Jason Carter to challenge Gov. Deal next year  —  Democratic state Sen. Jason Carter will challenge Gov. Nathan Deal next year in a move that catapults the gubernatorial contest into the national spotlight and tests whether Georgia's changing demographics can loosen the Republican Party's 12-year grip on the state's highest office.

Dan Savage Suggests ‘Mandatory Abortion’ for 30 Years, Draws Outrage  —  Popular sex columnist and liberal pundit Dan Savage drew some heat this week when he suggested to an Australian conference that he'd offer up “mandatory abortion” as a method of fighting overpopulation.

Vice President Biden congratulates the wrong Marty Walsh  —  Just minutes after the election returns arrived in Boston Tuesday night, Martin Walsh's cellphone rang.  It was the vice president of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, offering his congratulations.  —  “You son of a gun, Marty!” he thundered.

Last spring, the remains of 10 missing Afghan villagers were dug up outside a U.S. Special Forces base - was it a war crime or just another episode in a very dirty war?  —  In the fall of 2012, a team of American Special Forces arrived in Nerkh, a district of Wardak province, Afghanistan …

Obamacare mocked at music awards  —  Obamacare took it on the chin at Wednesday night's Country Music Awards, in a skit with music stars and co-hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley.  —  Paisley pretended to have hurt his back, prompting Underwood to say, “Hey, do you have that Obamacare?

Kerry: US considers Israeli settlements to be ‘illegitimate’  —  US secretary of state says despite difficulties, both Abbas, PM set to work toward peace deal.  —  BETHLEHEM - US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Wednesday to limit settlement building, an issue that is weighing on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Why Obamacare Isn't Losing Popularity Even After A Month Of Really Bad Press  —  A new poll released on Wednesday finds that uninsured Americans are increasingly interested in Obamacare, despite the ongoing technological problems plaguing the websites that allow them to sign up for health insurance plans.