Obama's ratings tumble after health-care flaws  —  The flawed rollout of the Affordable Care Act has pushed President Obama to the lowest point of his presidency, with dwindling faith in his competence and in many of the personal attributes that have buoyed him in the past, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Healthcare plan enrollment surges in some states after rocky rollout  —  Healthcare insurance enrollment increases in some states that run their own exchanges, boosting hopes of Obamacare backers.  —  Peter Lee, director of the Covered California health insurance exchange, discusses enrollment.

Census ‘faked’ 2012 election jobs report  —  In the home stretch of the 2012 presidential campaign, from August to September, the unemployment rate fell sharply — raising eyebrows from Wall Street to Washington.  —  The decline — from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September — might not have been all it seemed.

Iowa GOP to Christie: Don't skip caucuses  —  Iowa Republicans are urging New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) to contest the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses if he runs for president in 2016, warning a decision to ignore the Hawkeye State would do more harm than good to his campaign.

Obama's conference call on Obamacare goes about as well as HealthCare.gov rollout  —  President Obama is participating in an online conference call on Obamacare tonight with his friends at Organizing For Action (OFA).  However, in an interesting twist, numerous reporters had difficulty logging into the call on the OFA website.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Calls For Expanding Social Security  —  American values demand that Congress boost retirement benefits rather than shrinking them to satisfy deficit hawks, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said on the Senate floor Monday afternoon.  “We should be talking …

The analogy is less telling than who is employing it.  —  Granted, it's an imperfect analogy.  So is every other analogy, but there are some particularly glaring differences here.  As Karl Van Zandt observes on Twitter, President Bush didn't push Hurricane Katrina through Congress without a single vote from the other party.

'I'm not perfect': Defiant Toronto Mayor Rob Ford insists he can lead  — Facebook - Twitter - Reddit - Pinterest - Email  —  In a TODAY interview that aired Tuesday, embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted flaws, but blasted his critics and insisted he's fit to serve the city.

High Standards for All Schools and Students, Everywhere  —  We have a tendency in our fast-moving world to focus on controversial-sounding soundbites, instead of the complex policy debates that underlie them.  Unfortunately, I recently played into that dynamic.

Court order that allowed NSA surveillance is revealed for first time  —  Fisa court judge who authorised massive tapping of metadata was hesitant but felt she could not stand in the way  —  A secret court order that authorised a massive trawl by the National Security Agency of Americans' email …

DHS Still Hasn't Fired Black Supremacist Who Called for Mass Murder of Whites  —  Almost four months after he was unmasked as a militant black nationalist who called for murdering “Uncle Tom race traitors,” Ayo Kimathi is still employed.  —  The black-nationalist Department of Homeland Security employee …

Martin Bashir apologizes for dirty, disgusting slam at Sarah Palin  —  FILE: Martin Bashir on the second day of Michael Jackson's child molestation trial in Santa Maria.reuters  —  When I first saw a headline about what Martin Bashir said, I figured it must be exaggerated.

Suicide bombings kill 23 near Iran embassy in Beirut  —  (Reuters) - Two suicide bombings rocked Iran's embassy compound in Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people including an Iranian cultural attaché and hurling bodies and burning wreckage across a debris-strewn street.

Albuquerque Election: Voters Deciding Whether To Outlaw Late-Term Abortions  —  Voters in Albuquerque on Tuesday will decide on an initiative to outlaw most late-term abortions in New Mexico's largest city, marking the first such measure placed on a municipal ballot.

Did the Shutdown Even Matter?  —  When budget negotiations began last month, Democrats felt confident that public opinion surrounding the government shutdown would force Republicans to the table, eager to prove their party could compromise.  —  But today, there's little sense of urgency on a budget deal.

Edwards teaming up again with former law partner  —  RALEIGH, N.C. — Two-time Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will soon begin practicing law again with his former law partner, David Kirby, and his daughter Cate.  —  The Edwards Kirby law firm will have offices in Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

Phil Gingrey's top staffers resign campaign  —  The Phil Gingrey's campaign for U.S. Senate took a blow on Monday, as four top staffers resigned.  —  General consultant Chip Lake, who once served as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, confirmed his departure via email.