Bachmann has confidence tea party can best Clinton in 2016  —  With less than a year left in her fourth and final term in Congress, it's a little early for an exit interview, but not too early to get the views of Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., on issues dear to a “founding mother” …

Has Anyone in America Actually Been Harmed by Obamacare?  —  I'm beginning to think there's not actually a single person in America who's been harmed by Obamacare.  I know that seems unlikely, but take a look at the latest AFP ad pounding Obamacare.  It features Julie Boonstra …

The Day We Pretended to Care About Ukraine  —  What does our addiction to disaster porn say about us?  —  Journalist Simon Shuster said it was “straight out of Hieronymus Bosch.”  Writer Philip Gourevitch thought it was more like Bruegel.  But the main word to describe the violent clashes …

Why the FCC should keep its nose out of TV newsrooms  —  What on earth is the FCC thinking?  —  The last thing we need is the government mucking around with news content.  —  The title of this Big Brother-ish effort by the Federal Communications Commission sounds innocuous enough: “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs.”

GOP's Social Security disaster: Conservatives just lost their chance to cut benefits  —  The president dropping Chained CPI from his budget is a reprieve for the left — and a message to the right  —  Back in November 2012, with the Bush tax cuts scheduled to expire and sequestration looming …

Inside the Conservative Campaign to Launch “Jim Crow-Style” Bills Against Gay Americans  —  “In this new up-is-down world, anti-gay religious folks are ‘practicing their faith’ when they're baking cakes or renting out hotel rooms to travelers.”  —  Creatas/Thinkstock

‘House of Cards’ is really bad  —  The second season of Netflix's “House of Cards” was a pretty big let down.  The storylines were preposterous.  The principle characters were flat and cliched.  The efforts at narrative transgression, either violent or sexual, were pathetic and unconvincing.

Venezuela: The Game Changed Last Night  —  Listen and understand.  The game changed in Venezuela last night.  What had been a slow-motion unravelling that had stretched out over many years went kinetic all of a sudden.  —  What we have this morning is no longer the Venezuela story you thought you understood.

Rick Santorum Gathers Advisers to Plot 2016 Run  —  The 2012 contender is weighing another run for the White House, and a second chance to be as conservative and “unelectable” as mainstream Republicans fear.  —  Listening to pundits talk about the potential 2016 Republican field, you'd be forgiven for forgetting about Rick Santorum.

How Likely Are Democrats to Lose the Senate?  —  A few weeks ago, I produced two Senate analyses.  One focused on the relationship between the president's job approval, the fate of Senate Democrats during the 2010 and 2012 elections, and what that would mean if this relationship continues through 2014.

Video: “I thought the Affordable Care Act would save $2500 per family?”  —  “What happened?”  —  Senator Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Tim Walz came back to Mankato, MN yesterday to meet and greet constituents at South Central College, along with Rep. Collin Peterson.

TAIBBLOG  —  Thank You, Rolling Stone  —  Today is my last day at Rolling Stone.  As of this week, I'm leaving to work for First Look Media, the new organization that's already home to reporters like Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras.  —  I'll have plenty of time to talk about the new job elsewhere.

Rick Perry has ‘problems’ with Ted Nugent  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that he has a “problem with” rocker Ted Nugent's “tough words,” but that shouldn't impact the campaign of Greg Abbott, who is running to replace Perry in office.  —  The Republican governor was asked on CNN's …

A Church So Poor It Has to Close Schools, Yet So Rich It Can Build a Palace  —  KEARNY, N.J. — Mater Dei Academy sits shuttered, blue drapes pulled across its windows, atop a hill in this working-class city.  From its steps, you can peer across the mist-shrouded expanse of the Meadowlands to the distant spires of Manhattan.

Steve King: I Was Right and I Won't Apologize  —  Rep. Steve King not only isn't sorry about his controversial comments about illegal immigrants, he's taking credit for correcting other lawmakers' statements.  —  In a recent interview with his local newspaper, the Spencer Daily Reporter …

Public Sector Cuts Part-Time Shifts to Bypass Insurance Law  —  WASHINGTON — Cities, counties, public schools and community colleges around the country have limited or reduced the work hours of part-time employees to avoid having to provide them with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, state and local officials say.