With Minimum Wage as Start, Obama to Press Past Congress  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to sign an executive order requiring that janitors, construction workers and others working for federal contractors be paid at least $10.10 an hour in the future, using his own power to enact …

Obamacare: Tom Coburn loses cancer doctor  —  Cancer-stricken Sen. Tom Coburn revealed Tuesday that his health insurance under Obamacare doesn't cover his oncologist, but said he still is receiving excellent care.  —  “I'm doing well from a health standpoint, got great docs,” Coburn said on MSNBC's …

Wendy Davis hits back at Bristol Palin  —  Texas gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis brushed off criticism about her life story from Bristol Palin, saying that nothing Palin accused her of was true.  —  Davis was responding to a blog post from the daughter of former Gov. Sarah Palin …

56 Dems endorse Hillary for 2016  —  Fifty-six Democratic lawmakers say they would endorse Hillary Clinton for president if she launches a 2016 White House bid, according to a survey conducted by The Hill.  [SEE COMPLETE LIST]  —  Twenty-two congressional Democrats had already publicly endorsed Clinton.

Poll: Christie numbers tank as scandals continue  —  Chris Christie's political future looks to be in serious danger with more Americans believing the embattled New Jersey governor is lying about the bridge closure scandal than telling the truth, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Pete Seeger, Songwriter and Champion of Folk Music, Dies at 94  —  Pete Seeger, the singer, folk-song collector and songwriter who spearheaded an American folk revival and spent a long career championing folk music as both a vital heritage and a catalyst for social change, died Monday.

Exclusive: Democratic senators to file amicus brief in Hobby Lobby birth control case  —  In a brief to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, 19 Democratic senators are siding with the Obama administration against evangelical Christian businessmen who argue that paying …

If we want more income equality, should we return to the economy of George W. Bush?  —  Other things being equal, income equality is better than inequality.  But other things are NOT equal.  The easiest way to make incomes more equal in the short run is to have a recession.

Max Baucus nomination set to move forward  —  Several tough questions and suggestions from Republicans interrupted a mostly placid confirmation hearing for Sen. Max Baucus to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China.  —  Testifying on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee …

Giant Hologram of Turkish Prime Minister Delivers Speech  —  Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan couldn't attend a political party meeting in the city of Izmir on Sunday, so he decided to send the next best thing: a giant hologram of himself.  —  In a scene straight out of Star Wars …

How Republicans Lost the Farm  —  On a recent Monday in San Antonio, Texas, Tom Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture, got up to speak to an auditorium full of farmers.  Vilsack, a doughy, wavy-haired former governor of Iowa, wore a grim expression as he gripped the lectern.

The California Supreme Court's cruel, self-righteous decision to reject the disgraced journalist's bar application.  —  Stephen Glass, the disgraced New Republic journalist, and once my friend, lied to me most of the times we spoke.  My wife Hanna Rosin was one of his closest confidantes at the New Republic …

Ryan Loskarn leaves letter  —  Jesse Ryan Loskarn, the former top Senate GOP aide who committed suicide last week, said in a letter released by his family that he was sexually abused as a child, and the horror from that episode eventually led him down a path toward possessing child pornography.

Lawmakers demand Obama dump Clapper  —  A bipartisan group of House members is criticizing President Obama for not going far enough in his attempts to rein in the country's surveillance programs.  —  In a letter to the White House on Monday, six lawmakers led by House Oversight …

The limits of Ezra Klein's star power  —  No greater act of press criticism exists than to launch your own publication.  Starting anew allows a journalist to leave the cracked glass, dents and rust of the old behind, to reject the past and all its mistakes and compromises, and to show by example how the work should be done.

Governing by Pen and Phone  —  Obama used to sigh that he was not a dictator who could act unilaterally.  No more.  —  Lately a weakened President Obama has fashioned a new attitude about consensual government: “We're not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure …