Watch Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber Admit in 2012 That Subsidies Were Limited to State-Run Exchanges  —  Earlier this week, a three-judge panel in the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that, contrary to the Obama administration's implementation and an Internal Revenue Service rule …

Kerry Proposes Weeklong Halt to Fighting in Gaza Strip  —  CAIRO — Secretary of State John Kerry has proposed a two-stage plan to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip that would first impose a weeklong truce starting Sunday, an official involved in the negotiations said on Friday.

John McCain: Arizona execution ‘torture’  —  A botched execution in Arizona on Wednesday amounted to “torture,” said the state's senior senator John McCain.  —  The longtime Republican lawmaker, who experienced years of torture while being held in captivity by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War …

In Russia, Crime Without Punishment  —  Vladimir Putin backs the rebels suspected of shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.  Why each new crisis makes him stronger  —  The scene was almost too horrible to take in, and yet in a world of bristling threats no scene has been more revealing …

Joining fundraising spree, first lady asks for ‘biggest, fattest’ checks  —  (CNN) — First lady Michelle Obama jumped into the White House fundraising spree on Thursday, prodding supporters in Chicago to hand over the maximum campaign contribution in an attempt to shore up Democrats' chances in upcoming midterm elections.

Issa asks Holder to turn over docs on mortgage fraud settlements  —  The chairman of the House Oversight Committee asked Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday to turn over documents related to the Justice Department's decisions to settle mortgage fraud accusations against two of the nation's biggest banks.

Iran confirms arrest of Post correspondent  —  Iran confirmed Friday that The Washington Post's correspondent in Tehran has been arrested on unspecified charges.  —  Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, director general of the Tehran Province Justice Department, told reporters that the …

Left Coast Rising  —  The states, Justice Brandeis famously pointed out, are the laboratories of democracy.  And it's still true.  For example, one reason we knew or should have known that Obamacare was workable was the post-2006 success of Romneycare in Massachusetts.

CNN/ORC Poll: Majority say no to impeachment and lawsuit  —  Washington (CNN) - There's not a lot of public appetite for a Republican push to sue President Barack Obama, or for calls by some conservatives to impeach him, according to a new national survey.  —  A CNN/ORC International poll …

The Moment of Truth on Corporate Welfare  —  It seems like decades since Republicans have been able to permanently zero out a government program of any size.  The tea-party base often doesn't take seriously the GOP's commitment to shrinking government and has accused the GOP of ladling out benefits to the elite and well connected.

Army War College to investigate plagiarism claims against Walsh  —  GALLATIN COUNTY  —  BOZEMAN, Mont. -  —  In a written statement to NBC Montana Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Army War College said it will convene an Academic Review Board to look into allegations of plagiarism against democratic U.S. Senator John Walsh.

Ben Carson Sold More Books Than Hillary Clinton Last Week  —  For many book buyers last week, choosing whether to buy Ben Carson's new book or Hillary Clinton's new memoir was not a hard choice.  —  According to Nielsen Bookscan numbers provided to The Daily Caller, Carson's ""One Nation" …

Michigan GOP Mayor Compares Atheists To Nazis, KKK  —  The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and two other groups on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the mayor of Warren, Mich., who banned an atheist group from setting up a station alongside one run by a prayer group in the city hall atrium.

Obsessing About Gaza, Ignoring Syria (And Most Everything Else)  —  The responses to what I write about the Hamas war fall into several categories.  My least favorite sort of response is the kind that invokes Hitler in some way.  Here is an e-mail that is representative: “I hope Hitler kills you and your family.”

Regulator assailed for quick ‘spin through the revolving door’  —  News that a departing member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is headed for a major industry group with business before the agency is prompting criticism from advocates who call the move a record-fast “spin through the revolving door.”