Cantor takes mission impossible  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is taking the lead on crafting the GOP's Obama-Care replacement proposal.  —  The extraordinarily tough task faces many obstacles and is complicated by election-year politics and an unruly GOP conference.

Anatomy of a media disaster: Why the press is botching the latest Obamacare story  —  Mix of innumeracy, vulnerability to spin and thirst for controversy explains lame coverage of CBO Obamacare report  —  Twenty-four hours later, after a tremendous swell of misinformation …

Days ahead for Dems not so dark  —  When one has retired from the ranks of American domestic political consulting, as I have, you are not really allowed to just quit.  You become emeritus, of counsel, senior status and God knows what.  Basically your role becomes one of trying …

Work was supposed to be liberating.  Now nonwork is.  —  Annie Lowrey, an economics reporter for the New York Times, has an essay in this coming weekend's Times magazine rebutting what she calls “the policy solution du jour” to the problem of “how to alleviate poverty”—namely, “marriage promotion.”

Head of Mormon church Thomas Monson summoned by British magistrates' court over Adam and Eve teaching  —  Thomas S Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ordered to appear before British magistrate's court amid claims that the organisation's teaching amounts to ‘fraud’

How John Podesta is changing Obama's White House  —  John Podesta doesn't have a standing appointment with President Barack Obama.  He doesn't join chief of staff Denis McDonough for the nightly “wrap” meeting with the president.  He doesn't have a defined portfolio of assignments.

The Koch Brothers Left a Confidential Document at Their Last Donor Conference—Read It Here  —  A list of one-on-one meetings between VIP donors and the Kochs and their operatives offers a revealing look into their mighty political machine.  —  Charles Koch: Bo Rader/ZUMA; David Koch: Sonia Moskowitz/ZUMA

New evidence undercuts White House claims about IRS motivation.  —  House committees are still digging into the IRS political targeting scandal, and based on a hearing Wednesday there's more to learn.  The day produced more evidence blowing apart President Obama's claims that there was …

Olympic Threat: US Warns Airlines About Toothpaste Tube Bomb … The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to U.S. and some foreign airlines traveling to Russia for the Olympic Games to be on the lookout for toothpaste containers, which some intelligence indicates …

GOP Conference chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers faces possible ethics inquiry  —  GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) faces a possible House Ethics Committee investigation over allegations by a former staffer that she improperly mixed campaign and official funds to help win a 2012 House leadership race.

Karl Rove: The Numbers That Scare Senate Democrats  —  Voting with Obama 97% of the time is going to end some careers.

Romney floats Martinez, others for 2016  —  Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday expanded his list of possible 2016 GOP presidential candidates — floating a number of dark horses, including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R).  —  Romney named a laundry list …

22 Messages From Creationists To People Who Believe In Evolution  —  I asked 22 self-identifying creationists at the Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate to write a message/question/note to the other side.  Here's what they wrote.  —  1.  —  Matt Stopera / BuzzFeed  —  2.  —  Matt Stopera / BuzzFeed

At Executive Mansion, McAuliffe puts out the welcome mat  —  RICHMOND — Gov. Terry McAuliffe has added a potent weapon to his bipartisan charm offensive: better booze.  —  Desperately in need of Republican friends to get his agenda through a divided General Assembly, McAuliffe (D) …

The Worst Idea in the World  —  Five years after the Bolshevik Revolution, Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises predicted that the Soviet project was doomed to fail.  In his classic work Socialism, Mises explained that the attempt to replace the market system with central economic planning could not succeed …

Mileage Tax Pushed by Shuster to Pay for Highway Bill  —  House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster said he favors user fees including a vehicle miles tax to pay for a long-term U.S. highway bill that would extend for at least five years.

Key Democratic Group Will Sit Out Midterm Elections  —  Priorities USA Action, the super PAC now backing Hillary Clinton, won't spend to help Democrats in the House and Senate this year, a spokesperson confirms.  —  Mike Theiler / Reuters  —  The Democratic Party's biggest super PAC …

Just Say No  —  President Obama indicated in his State of the Union address last week that he will exercise his admittedly limited executive powers in this “year of action.”  Though most of the mild proposals he made are welcome, one still wonders why he doesn't say “no” more often.