Bush speechwriter: Obama plagiarized Bush  —  President George W. Bush's former speech writer said that President Barack Obama plagiarized his former boss in Tuesday's State of the Union address.  —  Speaking to Fox News's Megyn Kelly, Marc Thiessen, the lead writer on Bush's 2007 State …

Poll: Huckabee Is Now The GOP's Top Choice For 2016 After Libido Remark  —  Uncle Sugar has apparently provided Mike Huckabee with a polling bounce.  —  The latest survey from Democratic PPP released Wednesday showed the former Arkansas governor surging among Republican voters nationwide …

Rep. Grimm Threatens NY1 Reporter Following State of the Union … Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm physically threatened NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto at the conclusion of an interview in the Capitol Rotunda following Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

Reid rejects Obama's trade power  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday suggested he will not bring legislation to the floor that would grant President Obama greater trade powers.  —  Reid said he is “against” trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation — often called …

How to understand the GOP predicament on immigration  —  The politics of immigration inside the House GOP caucus can seem perplexing and opaque.  Fortunately, Paul Ryan just gave an interview to Chuck Todd that pulls back the curtain and reveals how Republicans see the political minefield that lies between them and getting to Yes.

Was Atlanta asleep at the wheel?  —  Atlanta (CNN) — We're world-class, Greater Atlanta boasts.  We're home to the world's busiest airport, to the Braves and Georgia Tech.  To CNN and the Weather Channel.  We're a mecca for conventioneers.  —  But today, that solid rep is going south, thanks to the “rush hour from hell.”

You know that “women make 77 cents to every man's dollar” line you've heard a hundred times?  It's not true.  —  How many times have you heard that “women are paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men”?  Barack Obama said it during his last campaign.

33.3 MILLION TUNE IN TO WATCH PRES. OBAMA'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS  —  On Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014 President Barack Obama delivered his second State of the Union address of his second term in office.  The address was carried live from 9:00 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. on 13 networks and tape-delayed on Univision.

Blue Bottle Coffee Gets Caffeinated With $25.75 Million in Funding From Internet Stars and Morgan Stanley  —  Clay McLachlan/Claypix.com for Blue Bottle Coffee  —  Blue Bottle Coffee, the specialty roaster that has become a favorite of hipster techies in the San Francisco area …

Hitting Mitch McConnell over health care in Kentucky  —  In yesterday's speech, President Obama gave a shout-out to Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, citing his tireless efforts to expand Obamacare coverage to his own constituents in a deep red state.  As enrollment mounts …

The Story Of A War Hero Wounded On His 10th Deployment Is Really The Story Of Obama  —  There are a few things that strike the reader upon reading the following tweet, which references Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, the Army Ranger President Barack Obama praised at the end of his otherwise unmemorable State of the Union address.

Marshall scientist found formaldehyde in Charleston water  —  CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Marshall University environmental scientist and member of the state Environmental Quality Board said today that he has found formaldehyde in local water samples and that the continued lack of data on the chemical …

Fortune 50 CEO pay vs. our salaries  —  Exactly how much more do Fortune 50 CEOs make than their workers?  In many cases, quite a bit more.  Here is an interactive breakdown of a handful of Fortune 50 top exec salaries compared to typical employee pay at their respective companies.

For Christie, Politics Team Kept a Focus on Two Races  —  His campaign called them “the Top 100,” the swing towns that Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey wanted to win as he prepared for a re-election campaign.  Capturing these towns, sometimes referred to as mini-Ohios or mini-Floridas …

Pete Wilson syndrome: Boehner and the GOP's last chance on immigration reform  —  Tick, tock, the clock has run out on John Boehner and his GOP cohort to present a credible immigration reform plan to the nation.  And that doesn't mean just any set of “principles,” but a coherent …

EXCLUSIVE: Obama's high school pot dealer who he thanked for the ‘good times’ was beaten to death with a hammer by his gay lover after fights over flatulence and drugs  — Raymond Boyer was known as ‘Gay Ray’ to Obama and his marijuana smoking ‘Choom Gang’ of privately-educated kids at Hawaiian high school

Report: Hundreds of Patch employees laid off  —  I'm told that hundreds — two tipsters claim two-thirds of the editorial staff — have been laid off by Patch's new owner, Hale Global.  I have asked the company for confirmation.  (It bought Patch from AOL on January 15.)

ANALYSIS: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers comes through for GOP in SOTU response  —  Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) had one of the more difficult tasks in politics on Tuesday, delivering the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

Capitalism vs. Democracy  —  Thomas Piketty's new book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” described by one French newspaper as a “a political and theoretical bulldozer,” defies left and right orthodoxy by arguing that worsening inequality is an inevitable outcome of free market capitalism.

Why Kerry Is Scary  —  TEL AVIV — It is pretty clear now that Secretary of State John Kerry will either be Israel's diplomatic salvation or the most dangerous diplomatic fanatic Israel has ever encountered.  But there isn't much room anymore for anything in between.

The Case Against Early Voting  —  To the delight of anyone who's ever waited in line to cast a vote, a bipartisan election commission convened by President Barack Obama concluded last week that states across the country should increase their use of early voting.

GOP ready to surrender on debt ceiling  —  House Republicans are getting ready to surrender: There will be no serious fight over the debt limit.  —  The most senior figures in the House Republican Conference are privately acknowledging that they will almost certainly have to pass what's called …