Brewer's Foolish Veto  —  In addition to the federal government, 18 states have such statutes and about a dozen other states interpret their state constitutions as extending the same protections, according to the letter.  The statutes, the scholars write, “say that before government can burden …

Bradley A. Smith: Connecting the Dots in the IRS Scandal  —  The ‘smoking gun’ in the targeting of conservative groups has been hiding in plain sight.  —  The mainstream press has justified its lack of coverage over the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups because there's been no …

Bill Clinton's rescue ride  —  Springtime is coming, baseball teams have reassembled for training, Robert Redford is back on cable playing Roy Hobbs in “The Natural” and Bill Clinton has begun his ride to rescue Democrats in the 2014 midterm elections.  —  In politics, the trick …

GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide  —  • Optic Nerve program collected Yahoo webcam images in bulk  —  • 1.8m users targeted by UK agency in six-month period alone  —  • Yahoo: ‘A whole new level of violation of our users’ privacy'

Most Americans disappointed in Obama's presidency, poll says  —  Shares -  —  Amid continued pessimism about the economy and direction of the country, 59 percent of Americans say they are disappointed in Mr. Obama's presidency (including 37 percent who are very disappointed); 40 percent are satisfied.

Ukraine leader warns Russia after armed men seize government HQ in Crimea  —  (Reuters) - Armed men seized the regional government headquarters and parliament in Ukraine's Crimea on Thursday and raised the Russian flag, alarming Kiev's new rulers, who urged Moscow not to abuse its navy base rights …

Republicans flip-flop on ‘judicial activism’  —  There was a time not too long ago when Republicans decried “activist judges.”  Now they're lamenting that judges are not being activist enough.  —  “Unfortunately, the courts have been reluctant to exercise their constitutionally conferred power …

New F.D.A. Nutrition Labels Would Make ‘Serving Sizes’ Reflect Actual Servings  —  WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration for the first time in two decades will propose major changes to nutrition labels on food packages, putting calorie counts in large type and adjusting portion sizes to reflect how much Americans actually eat.

Was Bush Really a Champion of Democracy?  —  For five years now, it's happened again and again.  A dictatorship somewhere wobbles, protesters crowd the streets, and the Obama administration strikes a careful tone, urging respect for human rights while trying to safeguard various American interests.

Insurers become O-Care foot soldiers  —  Insurance companies are serving as foot soldiers for ObamaCare with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign intended to push customers into the insurance exchanges.  —  Though the companies are reluctant to publicize their role in the unpopular law …

Obama's Pipeline  —  WASHINGTON — WHEN I was elected to Congress in 2002, George W. Bush was president and big business wrote environmental policy.  We all remember Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force — a who's who of mining and oil interests — and the administration's constant questioning of climate science.

Generic Ballot Model Shows Senate Control at Tipping Point  —  Look for more partisan conflict and polarization in new Senate  —  Crystal Ball Senior Columnist Alan Abramowitz's discussion of his Senate elections model not only confirms how close we expect the 2014 Senate campaign will be …

UPDATED: House subcommittee tosses discrimination elements from religious freedom bill  —  The Mississippi House of Representatives Civil Subcommittee late Wednesday voted to strike provisions of a so-called “religious freedom” bill that the ACLU and other legal experts said invites widespread discrimination …

De Blasio's school fight: Column  —  New York disagreement over charter schools spotlights Democrat vs. Democrat battle.  —  Most non-New Yorkers know only two things about Bill de Blasio, the city's new progressive mayor: He eats pizza with a knife and fork, and Al Roker attacked him for sending students to school in a snowstorm.

Joe Biden in winter  —  “The only thing I know is I ain't changing my brand.  I know what I believe.  I'm confident in what I know.  And I'm gonna say it.  And if folks like it, wonderful.  If they don't like it, I understand.”  —  Vice President Joe Biden and I were riding the Amtrak to Philly on a frigid February day.

How the Fed Let the World Blow Up in 2008  —  High oil prices blinded the Fed to the growing danger before the crash  —  It was the day after Lehman failed, and the Federal Reserve was trying to decide what to do.  —  It had been fighting a credit crunch for over a year, and now the worst-case scenario was playing out.

Standard Life could quit Scotland  —  Standard Life is putting in place contingency plans to relocate funds, people and operations to England if Scottish people vote for independence and what it regards as material uncertainties about money and regulation are not sorted to its satisfaction.