With 2015 budget request, Obama will call for an end to era of austerity  —  President Obama's forthcoming budget request will seek tens of billions of dollars in fresh spending for domestic priorities while abandoning a compromise proposal to tame the national debt in part by trimming Social Security benefits.

‘House of Cards’ threatens to leave if Maryland comes up short on tax credits  —  A few weeks before Season 2 of “House of Cards” debuted online, the show's production company sent Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley a letter with this warning: Give us millions more dollars in tax credits, or we will …

Boehner: I'd rather kill myself than raise the minimum wage  —  Speaker John Boehner is so against raising the minimum wage that he once said he would rather commit suicide than vote for a “clean” increase.  —  The Ohio Republican and son of a barkeep has repeatedly opposed federally mandated hike increases …

Hillary Clinton Maintains Positive Image in U.S.  —  American public's opinion of Vice President Joe Biden is mixed  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — A clear majority of Americans, 59%, still view Hillary Clinton favorably a year after she left her post as secretary of state.

Nugent apologizes for using term ‘subhuman mongrel’  —  (CNN) - Conservative activist and rocker Ted Nugent apologized Friday for using the term “subhuman mongrel” to describe the President, but the apology wasn't directed at President Barack Obama.  —  “I do apologize-not necessarily …

The myth of ‘settled science’  —  Irepeat: I'm not a global warming believer.  I'm not a global warming denier.  I've long believed that it cannot be good for humanity to be spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  I also believe that those scientists who pretend to know exactly …

Negotiators reach deal to end Ukraine crisis  —  The Post's Will Englund gives a first-person account of what it's like on the ground for protesters and citizens in Kiev.  (The Washington Post)  —  KIEV, Ukraine — A deal designed to end Ukraine's long-running crisis was reached Friday …

Measure pits freedom against discrimination  —  FONT:  —  The Arizona Legislature has passed a controversial religion bill that is again thrusting Arizona into the national spotlight in a debate over discrimination.  —  House Bill 2153, written by the conservative advocacy group Center …

SC colleges under fire about book, course choices  —  Some S.C. public colleges are coming under fire for the books they assign students and whether they follow a state law requiring instruction on the U.S. founding documents.  —  S.C. House budget writers voted Wednesday to take away nearly $70,000 …

Ratings: Is CNN's Piers Morgan Shooting Himself in the Foot?  —  In the end, are guns what killed CNN's “Piers Morgan Live”?  —  The show, hosted by anti-gun crusader Morgan, continues to struggle in the Nielsens.  And this month, the start of the Michael Dunn loud-music murder trial …

Go Ahead, Let Your Kids Fail  —  I'm on the road this week, giving talks on my new book about learning to fail better: that is, first, to give ourselves the permission to take on challenges where we might very well fail; second, to pick ourselves up as quickly as possible and move on when things don't work out.

Exclusive: The Dalai Lama Talks Pot, Facebook and the Pope With TIME  —  The Tibetan spiritual leader also offers surprising praise for China's new leader  —  Ahead of a lengthy two-week tour of the U.S. west coast, the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, spoke with TIME religion …

Time to push back against the global warming Nazis  —  Yeah, somebody pushed my button.  —  When politicians and scientists started calling people like me “deniers”, they crossed the line.  They are still doing it.  —  They indirectly equate (1) the skeptics' view that global warming …

Judge rips feds in Sherrod-Breitbart lawsuit  —  A federal judge delivered a severe tongue-lashing to a Justice Department lawyer Thursday, slamming the Obama Administration for its handling of demands for government records in the libel lawsuit fired Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod filed …

The First Lady Did A Sketch With Jimmy Fallon And Will Ferrell In Drag (VIDEO)  —  First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on “The Tonight Show” on Thursday with newly minted host Jimmy Fallon.  The two eventually discussed Obamacare and the first lady's “Let's Move” campaign …

The GOP's Talent Gap  —  The party doesn't have enough smart people working on its campaigns, and those who do are playing out of position.  —  Republicans who run campaigns gripe they lose races because of candidates and ideology.  It's easy to understand why.