Target announces it will drop part-time employees from its healthcare plan  —  Target Corp. announced on Tuesday it would no longer offer healthcare coverage to its part-time employees.  —  In a blog post on the company's website, Jodee Kozlak, the executive vice president of human resources …

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.

Resolved: Obamacare Is Now Beyond Rescue  —  Last Wednesday, Scott Gottlieb and I debated Jonathan Chait and Douglas Kamerow on this proposition: “Resolved: Obamacare Is Now Beyond Rescue.”  I was feeling a little trepid, for three reasons: First, I've never done any formal debate; second …

De Blasio ‘getting back at us’ by not plowing: UES residents  —  It really is a tale of two cities — this time with the tony Upper East Side getting the shaft!  —  Huge swaths of the city's wealthiest neighborhood had been not been plowed by early Tuesday evening, leaving 1-percenters out in the cold …

Statement by the President on Roe v. Wade Anniversary  —  Today, as we reflect on the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, we recommit ourselves to the decision's guiding principle: that every woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and her health.

The ugly, sordid, damning details in the Bob McDonnell indictment  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL VIRGINIA CORRUPTION BOB MCDONNELL  —  If the prosecutors' case in United States v. Robert F. McDonnell and Maureen G. McDonnell is correct, the corrupt acts of the 71st governor of Virginia and his wife …

There's No Getting Rid of David Vitter, America's Most Contemptible Senator  —  After surviving a prostitution scandal and a dead madam, the Republican wants to be the Bayou State's next governor.  —  I was once shooting the breeze with a Democratic senator I knew fairly well.

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 …

A physician's view on the sanctity of life  —  The thought of abortion for convenience is repugnant  —  Several years ago, I was consulted by a young woman who was 33 weeks pregnant and was on her way to Kansas get an abortion.  I informed her of the multiple options available to her outside …

When Public Opinions Collide  —  The progressive challenge of adjusting to a new climate of public opinion on deficits, entitlements, and jobs. … A major problem that confronts progressives and Democrats in dealing with deficits, entitlements and jobs is the extraordinary degree …

McCain Says Obama Is Worse Than Carter  —  “I thought Jimmy Carter was bad.”  —  That's what Sen. John McCain said Tuesday, speaking about the Syria policy of President Barack Obama's administration.  The Arizona Republican went further, saying the Syria situation could ultimately pose a terrorist threat to the United States.

The Supreme Court Case That Could Clobber Public-Sector Unions  —  William Messenger of the National Right to Work Committee asked the Supreme Court today to hold that public employee unions are unconstitutional.  —  “This is—I'm just going to use the word here, it is a radical argument.

Morning Plum: Mitch McConnell and the moral argument over Obamacare  —  The ongoing implementation of health care reform in Kentucky is a riveting story, with broad implications both for the 2014 elections and for health reform's broader future.  In this deep red state …

Rob Ford admits to drinking ‘a little bit’ after new video surfaces  —  After swearing off alcohol, mayor admits to drinking ‘a little bit’ on Monday night  —  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted to drinking alcohol Monday night, after a YouTube video appeared today showing him at a restaurant swearing …

Musician in coma after brutal attack in French Quarter  —  NEW ORLEANS — A well-known New Orleans musician is hospitalized and unconscious after being jumped in the French Quarter.  —  Doug Potter's family and friends believe he may have been a target of the “knockout” game.  —  “Always here when we needed him.

Trooper gives sex lesson  —  Sandusky County prosecutor Stierwalt: No crime in highway patrolman's sexual encounter with pre-teen  —  An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper with a history of domestic violence won't face charges related to alleged sexual encounters involving a boy, Sandusky County Sheriff's Deputy Sean O'Connell said.

Republican Party to vote for repeal of U.S. anti-tax dodging law  —  (Reuters) - The Republican Party is expected to approve a resolution this week, calling for repeal of an Obama administration law that is designed to crack down on offshore tax dodging.  —  In what would be the party's first appeal to scrap the law -

A Big Fracking Lie  —  President Obama isn't just not fixing climate change—he's making it worse.  —  If you want to know just how bad an idea it is for America to ship “fracked” natural gas to overseas markets, travel the 65 miles from the White House to a place called Cove Point in southern Maryland.

3 east Jerusalem al-Qaida recruits arrested, ‘planned massive bombings’  —  Shin Bet nabs men recruited online by Gaza operative working for al-Qaida chief; targets included Jerusalem Convention Center.  —  The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Wednesday that it arrested three Palestinians …

Pentagon Workers Strike Over Poverty Wages Paid By Federal Contracts  —  Food service and janitorial staff at the Pentagon are going on strike Wednesday morning, opening a new front in the ongoing fight to get President Obama to end the federal government's practice of paying poverty wages to contract employees at federal facilities.

The Minimum Wage Means Less Hiring  —  A seeming point of among agreement among minimum wage researchers is that higher minimum wages lead to lower turnover.  Dube et al (2012) find that “[a]verage separations, hires and turnover rates decline significantly among teen workers and restaurant establishments.”

A Movie Date, a Text Message and a Fatal Shot  —  WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — There's a sticker on the door of the Grove 16 Theater just outside Tampa: no weapons.  —  Curtis J. Reeves Jr. must have walked right past it on Jan. 13 when he went to a matinee with his wife, carrying a .380 handgun.

Obama's Job Approval Points to 2014 Trouble for Democrats  —  With the advent of this election year, the time to turn from generalities/playing field pieces to tracking specific races is fast approaching.  But before picking up my series on competitive Senate races (I wrote on three …