Senate Could Go Nuclear As Soon As Today: Sources  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate could go nuclear as soon as Thursday morning, according to three Democratic Senate sources close to the decision.  —  Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is prepared to change Senate filibuster rules by invoking the …

G.O.P. Maps Out Waves of Attacks Over Health Law  —  WASHINGTON — The memo distributed to House Republicans this week was concise and blunt, listing talking points and marching orders: “Because of Obamacare, I Lost My Insurance.”  “Obamacare Increases Health Care Costs.”

Obama's Race for the Cure  —  The President's second term may hinge on how fast his health care reform can recover  —  A good President needs a big comfort zone.  He should be able to treat enemies as opportunities, appear authentic in joy and grief, stay cool under the hot lights.

Blame Rich, Overeducated Elites as Our Society Frays  —  Complex human societies, including our own, are fragile.  They are held together by an invisible web of mutual trust and social cooperation.  This web can fray easily, resulting in a wave of political instability, internal conflict and, sometimes, outright social collapse.

Insurers restricting choice of doctors and hospitals to keep costs down  —  As Americans have begun shopping for health plans on the insurance exchanges, they are discovering that insurers are restricting their choice of doctors and hospitals in order to keep costs low, and that many of the plans exclude top-rated hospitals.

The race that broke the Cheney family  —  What happened when a gay sister came between Liz Cheney and a Senate seat.  —  Liz Cheney just wanted to enjoy her milkshake.  It was a Friday afternoon in early November, and the shadows were growing longer over the flat expanse of eastern Wyoming as a hard week dragged on.

Nicole Hopkins: ObamaCare Forced Mom Into Medicaid  —  My mother preferred to pay for her care rather than be on the government dole.  Now she has no choice.  —  My mother is not one to seek attention by complaining, so her recent woeful Facebook post caught my eye: “The poor get poorer.”

Palo Alto man, 85, removed from plane, detained in North Korea  —  An 85-year-old Korean War veteran and experienced globetrotter from Palo Alto is being detained in North Korea, where he was removed from a plane three weeks ago while leaving the reclusive country at the end of a visit …

GOP on ObamaCare: Let it self-destruct  —  Republican lawmakers who pushed the government shutdown to stop ObamaCare say their new plan is to sit back and watch the law self-destruct.  —  Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and other Tea Party allies of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) say the threat of a shutdown …

Alec Baldwin: ‘I want you to be my lover, Matt’  —  The actor, under fire for video that captured him possibly using a gay slur, tried humor to ease the backlash.  —  CONNECT  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alec Baldwin jokingly professed his love for a man in front of a large crowd Wednesday …

Florida poll: Charlie Crist leads Rick Scott  —  Florida Gov. Rick Scott trails Democrat Charlie Crist by 7 points in a head-to-head match-up for governor, according to a new poll.  —  Crist, the former Republican governor turned Democrat, leads Scott 47 percent to 40 percent in a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday.