Watchdog Report Says N.S.A. Program Is Illegal and Should End  —  WASHINGTON — An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency's program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only “minimal” benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down.

GOP Rep.: Wife Should ‘Voluntarily Submit’ To Her Husband  —  Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) believes that although a wife is supposed to “voluntarily submit” to her husband, she is not inferior to him, according to the Washington Post.  —  “The wife is to voluntarily submit …

The real problem with the American right: Aging, white radicals  —  But less understood is the true reason why  —  The Republican Party's total failure to make even cosmetic changes to its image and policy agenda last year has at this point become the kind of cliché-cum-running joke …

Angry Geithner once warned S&P about U.S. downgrade - filing  —  Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner angrily warned the chairman of Standard & Poor's parent that the rating agency would be held accountable for its 2011 decision to strip the United States of its coveted “triple-A” rating, a new court filing shows.

NEW POLLING ON CHRISTIE RATINGS  —  A PDF of Questions, Tables, and Full Text of this release is available here  —  WHILE MOST NJ REPUBLICANS STAND BY CHRISTIE, DEMOCRATS ABANDON HIM  —  Favorability and Job Ratings Drop to Pre-Sandy Levels  —  Note: Two-thirds of this poll was completed …

Cochran's Tea Party challenger raises $500K in 10 weeks  —  Sen. Thad Cochran's (R-Miss.) Tea Party challenger is off to a quick fundraising start, raising $500,000 in his first 10 weeks in the race.  —  Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R), who has the backing of many conservative groups including …

Virginia to fight same-sex marriage ban  —  Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring will announce Thursday that he believes the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that Virginia will join two same-sex couples in asking a federal court to strike it down …

Where Is Rep Steve Stockman?  —  The Texas congressman mounting a long shot campaign for Senate hasn't appeared on Capitol Hill for weeks.  —  Judge Crater, Jimmy Hoffa and Steve Stockman?  —  The Tea Party Texas congressman challenging incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in March's primary …

Bernie Madoff recovering from heart attack, battling kidney cancer as he rots in federal prison  —  The 75-year-old mastermind behind the epic Ponzi scheme has stage four kidney cancer, meaning it could have spread to the tissue and other parts of the body.  —  Bernard Madoff …

9th congressional GOP hopefuls differ on many issues  —  Voters in the Republican primary will have two very different candidates to choose from in the 9th Congressional District, as David Earl Williams III and Susanne Atanus vie for the right to face Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the fall.

What Obama's Next Three Years Will Look Like—for Better or Worse  —  Imagining the best- and worst-case scenarios for the rest of the president's term  —  On the cusp of his 2014 State of the Union message, President Obama is not exactly floating on air.  —  His fifth year …

Experts: McDonnell's corruption trial will test line between political favors, official action  —  Prosecutors laid out a startling corruption case against former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, but the government faces a high bar in proving that the couple committed a crime, legal experts said Wednesday.

Ohio Dem: Why not John Kasich?  —  The mayor of Columbus, Ohio — a Democrat who “supports Democrats across the board” — says pundits have mistakenly overlooked his home-state governor, Republican John Kasich, in the 2016 presidential parlor game.  —  “They're talking about the wrong Republicans …

Chinese Internet Traffic Redirected to Wyoming Company Servers  —  Updated: This post was updated to include the new location of the registered agent for Sophidea Inc., Wyoming Corporate Services, as well as additional reporting.  —  In one of the more bizarre twists in recent Internet memory …

Miami Beach mayor: Take your tech start-up gospel, and shove it  —  In the chatter around urban revitalization over the past few years, no idea has caught local officials' imaginations more than the idea of filling their downtowns with tech start-ups, in hopes of growing the next Google or Facebook.

Iranian official on nuke deal: We did not agree to dismantle anything  —  (CNN) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted Wednesday that the Obama administration mischaracterizes concessions by his side in the six-month nuclear deal with Iran, telling CNN in an exclusive interview that …

The Loud Truth About Abortion Protesters  —  Justice Scalia calls the demonstrators “counselors” who are comforting women.  That's not what I found at one New Jersey clinic.  —  “Be a man-stop your woman from killing your baby!”  —  “Mommy, don't kill me!”  —  “You are going to be the father of a dead baby!”

US and other Olympic teams get terror threat ahead of Sochi Games  —  Delegations in some countries, including Hungary, have reported receiving letters warning that Sochi, the location for the upcoming Olympic Winter games, is not safe.  The U.S. continues to take precautions to protect Americans at the event.

GOP touts school choice to woo minority vote  —  Republicans eager to attract black and Latino voters believe they have hit on an ideal magnet: school choice.  —  Led by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, with high-profile contributions from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor …

Republicans Seek To Sabotage Obamacare With Higher Premiums  —  Conservative wonks and Republican lawmakers are coalescing around a new strategy to sabotage Obamacare by repealing a temporary piece of the law designed to hold down premiums in the event of major market disruptions.

In $137B state budget proposal, Gov. Cuomo trumps de Blasio's universal pre-K plan  —  Gov. Cuomo unveiled his plan to offer statewide prekindergarten without raising taxes on the rich.  Mayor de Blasio ran for election on his tax-the-rich-for-universal-pre-K plan and has called it a ‘mandate’ by voters.

'We're Dancing on Deck of the Titanic': Touré Kills Co-Hosts' Snow Buzz with ‘Heavy’ Climate Change Rant  —  On Wednesday, the hosts MSNBC's The Cycle were engaging in a lighthearted discussion about the joys of snowfall and how childhood memories come flooding back when the frozen precipitation begins to pour.

Scott gains 10 points on Crist  —  PPP's newest look at the Florida Governor's race finds that it has tightened considerably over the last three months.  What was a 12 point lead for Charlie Crist over incumbent Rick Scott in September at 50/38 is now just a 2 point advantage at 43/41.

Ex-husband: Wendy Davis would be a ‘very capable governor’  —  Dallas (CNN) - Wendy Davis' second ex-husband, Jeff Davis, says he doesn't want to talk any more about his ex-wife, adding he wasn't pleased with the explosive debate that originated from his recent comments about the Texas gubernatorial candidate.

Bipartisan election commission releases list of suggested fixes  —  A bipartisan commission appointed by President Obama to study barriers to voting recommended a series of steps Wednesday, including several to take advantage of technological advances, to make casting ballots simpler in the next election.