Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia  —  WASHINGTON — As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully.

Obama to Israel — Time Is Running Out  —  When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House tomorrow, President Barack Obama will tell him that his country could face a bleak future — one of international isolation and demographic disaster — if he refuses to endorse …

Jerry Brown Opposes Legal Pot Because ‘We Need To Stay Alert’  —  California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said Sunday that he is not convinced legalizing marijuana is a good idea because the population needs to “stay alert.”  —  “The problem with anything, a certain amount is okay,” Brown said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Pipeline Protesters Arrested at White House  —  Police are arresting a couple hundred people who strapped themselves to the White House fence on Sunday to protest the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.  —  The protesters were mostly college students who participated in a peaceful march …

Waiting for Jeb  —  The 2016 presidential election is Jeb Bush's now-or-never-moment.  —  As other potential GOP standard-bearers have been hit by scandal or seen their luster fade, many Republicans desperately want the former Florida governor to get in the race.

Lerner's attorney says she won't testify, Issa wrong  —  Rep. Darrell Issa doesn't know what he's talking about, the attorney for former IRS official Lois Lerner said Sunday.  —  Issa, the California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, told “Fox News Sunday” …

5 Reasons This Supposedly Boring Budget Year Could Be Anything But  —  The 2013 budget release frenzy.  (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)  —  The budget President Barack Obama sends to Congress on Tuesday will be a month late and hundreds of billions of dollars short.

Democrats Try Wooing Ones Who Got Away: White Men  —  ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Frank Houston knows something about the longtime estrangement of white men from the Democratic Party.  His family roots are in nearby Macomb County, the symbolic home of working-class Reagan Democrats who …

Interview: Karzai says 12-year Afghanistan war has left him angry at U.S. government  —  KABUL — Hamid Karzai was in the midst of negotiating a security agreement with the United States when he met a 4-year-old girl who had lost half her face in an American airstrike.

Port Authority officials: Battle over toll hikes was all for show  —  Current and former officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey say a scheme was devised to give the governors of both states political cover for a 2011 toll hike at bi-state bridges and tunnels.  (John Munson/The Star-Ledger)

Russia Gas Threat Shows Putin Using Pipelines to Press Ukraine  —  OAO Gazprom (OGZD)'s threat to end natural gas discounts for Ukraine adds to the financial burden on the near-bankrupt government in Kiev and makes Europe's energy supply part of the escalating crisis.