It was worth it.  Probably.  —  Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act ended officially on Monday night.  And the last-minute rush to sign up for new insurance plans was every bit as big as the experts had always predicted.  Traffic to the online marketplaces and calls to the telephone help centers were the highest ever.

Inside Paul Ryan's Latest Plan To Gut Medicare  —  House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)  —  On Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) released his new budget blueprint for fiscal year 2015.  It contains many of the same cuts to social safety net …

Starbucks apologizes to La. teacher for barista's Satanic designs drawn in her coffee foam  —  Starbucks has apologized to a Louisiana teacher who complained that a barista drew Satanic symbols in her coffee foam.  —  Megan Pinion posted photos of two beverages she bought at a Baton Rouge coffee shop …

CIA misled on interrogation program, Senate report says  —  A report by the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that the CIA misled the government and the public about aspects of its brutal interrogation program for years — concealing details about the severity of its methods …

What Really Killed William Henry Harrison?  —  William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, holds a distinction that with luck will never be equaled: He was our shortest-serving president, dying on April 4, 1841, after just a month in office.  —  What killed him?

Appeals Court Finds Florida's 2012 Voter Purge Broke The Law  —  A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Florida's 2012 efforts to remove non-citizens from its voter rolls violated the National Voter Registration Act.  —  The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the state's efforts …

Why a Jeb Bush presidential run would be hard on the GOP.  —  Jeb Bush is having a moment.  For two months or so, as Chris Christie's presidential fortunes have appeared abridged, people who have supported the New Jersey governor (or at least are predisposed to support him) …

Home-Run Hitters of the Supreme Court  —  In the nation's history, 112 people have served on the Supreme Court of the United States.  Suppose that we were to select the all-time greats.  Who would make the cut?  —  To answer that question, we need a metric.

The bizarre double life of conservative congressional hopeful Jake Rush  —  Running for the U.S. Congress can be the role of a lifetime for a budding politician, which would seem on the surface to fit right in with “conservative” Republican candidate Jacob A. Rush.

CREW scores major FOIA win in Tom DeLay case  —  A watchdog group pressing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for records about a federal investigation into former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) scored a major legal victory Tuesday by winning a court ruling that could increase public access …

A Gaffe Can Matter When It Motivates the Base  —  We recently published a forecast that described the GOP as more likely than not to win the U.S. Senate in November.  But our analysis was less bullish on Republicans' prospects of flipping the seat in Iowa currently held by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who is retiring.

Covered California Sends Deaf Callers To Hotline Offering ‘Hot Ladies’  —  SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — On the deadline to sign up for health coverage through Covered California, some hearing-impaired residents were sent to a chat line offering ‘hot ladies’ instead of an insurance navigator.

Someone Else's Debt Could Ruin Your Credit Rating  —  Debt collectors are pursuing one in seven Americans—and often screwing up  —  Last month, Amrit Singh, an adjunct professor at Hostos Community College in the South Bronx, received a letter from the New York City Marshal, advising him that he owed $10,000, due within 20 days.

British sniper in Afghanistan kills six Taliban with one bullet  —  Lance Corporal in the Coldstream Guards hit trigger switch of suicide bomber whose device then exploded, Telegraph learns  —  A British sniper in Afghanistan killed six insurgents with a single bullet after hitting …

Obamacare Cuts Kentucky's Uninsured Rate By 40 Percent  —  Obamacare has cut Kentucky's uninsured population by more than 40 percent, signing up roughly 360,000 residents since enrollment opened up on Oct. 1, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.  —  Some 75 percent of them — 270,000 — were previously uninsured.

South Carolina legislator seeks to give God credit for state fossil  —  (Reuters) - An 8-year-old South Carolina girl's dream of having the woolly mammoth become the official state fossil has been put on hold while lawmakers debate an amendment that gives God credit for creation of the prehistoric animal.

The Next Level Of The Anti-Koch Campaign: Treat David Koch Like A Candidate For Office  —  Digging deep into the 1980s!  When a Koch brother called Social Security a pyramid scheme.  —  A New Beginning by 1980 Libertarian presidential nominee Ed Clark.  David Koch ran as vice president and funded the campaign.

How Republicans Rationalize Voter Suppression  —  The GOP's claims of defending “voter integrity,” “fairness,” and “uniformity” are complete nonsense.  —  Since 2011, Republican lawmakers in swing states have pushed hard for new restrictions on voting, from voter identification to new rules on early voting and ballot access.