Republicans tussle over gay candidates  —  Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes, a senior House Republican eyeing a powerful committee chairmanship, is causing friction with some of his colleagues by pushing the House GOP campaign arm to deny support for some of the party's gay congressional candidates.

The best speech Obama has given on the economy  —  The speech President Obama delivered this morning at THEARC in D.C. is perhaps the single best economic speech of his presidency.  That's in part because it exists for no other reason than to lay out Obama's view of the economy.

Palin Hopes Bashir's Attack Won't Stop People From Starting A Business (VIDEO)  —  Responding to the resignation of Martin Bashir for the first time, Sarah Palin said once again Thursday that she accepts his apology.  She just hopes that the former MSNBC host's “unprovoked” …

Polis melts down on House floor  —  Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) on Wednesday night lost his cool on the House floor over the issue of immigration, after the presiding officer warned another Democrat not to refer to people sitting in the House gallery.  —  Democrats were calling for House passage …

2 million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter passwords stolen in massive hack  —  Hackers have stolen usernames and passwords for nearly two million accounts at Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and others, according to a report released this week.  —  The massive data breach was a result …

Young invincibles spurn O-Care  —  Mounting opposition to ObamaCare among young adults is creating a new crisis for the White House.  —  While the federal enrollment website HealthCare.gov appears to be improving by the day, polls show the “young invincibles” key to making the law work are becoming less likely to enroll.

Unarmed Man Is Charged With Wounding Bystanders Shot by Police Near Times Square  —  An unarmed, emotionally disturbed man shot at by the police as he was lurching around traffic near Times Square in September has been charged with assault, on the theory that he was responsible …

Remember all those Obamacare horror stories?  Not looking so bad now  —  Inflammatory personal testimony has been a staple of bad debating since humans first started arguing with each other  —  Statisticians dismiss the practice of using personal stories to argue about an objective reality as …

The 10 Best Books of 2013  —  The year's best books, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review.  —  FICTION  —  Alfred A. Knopf, $26.95.  —  By turns tender and trenchant, Adichie's third novel takes on the comedy and tragedy of American race relations from the perspective of a young Nigerian immigrant.

TIME Exclusive: Icahn Files Apple Shareholder Proposal  —  The richest man on Wall Street is opening a new front in his quest to persuade Apple to part with more of its massive cash stockpile.  —  Veteran investor Carl Icahn is opening a new front in his quest to persuade Apple to part with more of its massive cash stockpile.

Stolen cobalt-60 found in Mexico; curious thieves likely doomed  —  MEXICO CITY — The day after a load of stolen radioactive material was found in a field, Mexican authorities had formed a perimeter around the area and were measuring for contamination as they planned the recovery process Thursday, according to Mexican news reports.

Can Obama unilaterally ban deportations?  —  He may have the authority, as a protester challenged him to.  But doing so would be fraught with political and legal risks.  —  President Obama looks back at a man in the audience who asked Obama for help getting his family to the United States during …

Ted Cruz explains dad's Fidel Castro comment  —  Sen. Ted Cruz said while there are some differences between President Barack Obama and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Obama is displaying “dictatorial” tendencies as president.  —  During an interview by Jorge Ramos on Fusion …

De Blasio to Name Bratton as New York Police Commissioner  —  Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio was expected on Thursday morning to name William J. Bratton to lead the New York Police Department, according to two people with knowledge of Mr. de Blasio's decision.  —  The move will return Mr. Bratton …

The righteousness in Hobby Lobby's cause  —  Business people shouldn't be required to check their faith at the door.  —  The Supreme Court has agreed to referee another dispute over President Obama's healthcare law.  This time it will look at whether businesses can use religious objections …

Obama steals past the Nov. 30 deadline.  —  NBC's Michael O'Brien had some fun yesterday paraphrasing President Obama's latest infliction on the ears of America: “Obama said his signature health care reform law is going nowhere as long as he's in office.” … Obama gives a health-care speech.

Budget Deal Looks Likely, But Passage Uncertain  —  Ryan, left, and Murray are likely to announce a modest budget deal in the coming days.  (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)  —  Budget negotiators are nearing a deal that could ease the way for leaders to avert another government shutdown before the 2014 elections …

Obama moves left on the economy to change the subject from ObamaCare.  —  For all of their mutual public admiration, Presidents Clinton and Obama react differently to political trouble.  Bill moved to the middle, while Barack always moves left.  So it's no surprise that Mr. Obama is responding …

How the GOP lost its nerve on tax reform  —  The email blasting Rep. Dave Camp's tax plan as “disastrous” arrived two days before a pivotal meeting between House Republican leaders and their chief tax writer.  —  The subject line: “Republican tax plan threatens conservative talk radio and media localism.”

ALEC calls for penalties on ‘freerider’ homeowners in assault on clean energy  —  • Documents reveal conservative group's anti-green agenda  —  • Strategy to charge people who install their own solar panels  —  • Environmentalists accuse Alec of protecting utility firms' profits

The two options on Iran  —  Critics of the agreement with Iran concerning its nuclear program are right about most things but wrong about the most important things.  They understand the agreement's manifest and manifold defects and its probable futility.  Crucial components of Iran's nuclear infrastructure remain.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus: Hillary Research Already Underway  —  HH: Back in California after two wonderful days in the nation's capital, but I can't keep talking about anything except Obamacare.  And the best person to do that, chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus …

Amsterdam Has a Deal for Alcoholics: Work Paid in Beer  —  AMSTERDAM — After more than a decade out of work because of a back injury and chronic alcoholism, Fred Schiphorst finally landed a job last year and is determined to keep it.  He gets up at 5:30 a.m., walks his dog and then puts on a red tie …

Morgan fraternity accused of rejecting gay student is put on probation until 2015  —  Kappa Alpha Psi violated university policies on discrimination  —  A fraternity chapter at Morgan State accused of discriminating against a student because he is gay has been placed on probation until fall 2015, university officials said Tuesday.