Cruz center of Senate meltdown  —  Sen. Ted Cruz, the firebrand conservative freshman from Texas, has blown up the Senate leadership's plans to have a peaceful weekend by forcing round-the-clock votes on President Obama's nominees and the $1.1 trillion omnibus.

Was my 17-year-old son lynched, in the year 2014?  The police still won't tell me  —  It's hard to think such a thing could still happen in the United States.  This is justice?  Tell us what happened to Lennon.  Tell me what happened to my son  —  Friday 12 December 2014 10.41 EST

Ex-CIA director defends rectal rehydration  —  Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden on Thursday defended revelations from Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats that the agency used rectal rehydration on detainees.  —  “These were medical procedures,” Hayden said during a tense interview on CNN's “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”

Wall Street's Win on Swaps Rule Shows Washington Resurgence  —  Wall Street is re-emerging as a force in Washington as it closes in on one of its biggest wins against regulation since the financial crisis.  —  With must-pass spending legislation making its way through Congress this week …

Early federal sentencing recommendation for McDonnell: At least 10 years in prison … The federal agency that will play a pivotal role in guiding the sentence of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has recommended that the onetime Republican rising star spend at least 10 years and a month in prison …

Another Baseless Attack on Health Law  —  The opponents of the Affordable Care Act have filed another long-shot lawsuit that could undermine health care reform and force many consumers to pay more for health insurance if the suit succeeds.  —  The Supreme Court has already agreed to hear a separate case …

Cruel Reality: Obama Paying for Illegal Amnesty With Fees Paid by Legal Immigrants  —  As the debate rages on Capitol Hill about how to defund President Obama's executive action that gives legal status to 5 million illegal immigrants, it's important to take a look at where the funding for his new amnesty program is coming from.

The Torture Party: Why Republicans Defend the Most Sadistic Government Program in Recent History  —  The allegation that the Bush administration used torture had gone from outrageous smear to tired news without ever having passed through the stage of acceptable topic of discussion.  —  Shares

Time to tackle global warming running out, Pope tells climate summit  —  VATICAN CITY - Tackling the problem of climate change is a serious ethical and moral responsibility, Pope Francis told negotiators from around the world meeting for a climate summit in Lima, Peru.  —  “The time to find global solutions is running out.

Americans find some tortures more acceptable than others  —  Most Americans think torture can be justified, but hardly anyone thinks “rectal feeding” is acceptable  —  This week saw the release of a long-awaited Senate report detailing the post-9/11 CIA detention and interrogation program …

More Videos: Gruber Talks About Writing Obamacare; Said Under Oath He Didn't Write It  —  When MIT professor and Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber testified in front of Congress earlier this week about the lack of transparency used to deceive the American people about the Affordable Care Act …

Why America's middle class is lost  —  The middle class took America to the moon.  Then something went horribly wrong.  —  DOWNEY, CALIF. — One day in 1967, Bob Thompson sprayed foam on a hunk of metal in a cavernous factory south of Los Angeles.  And then another day, not too long after …

Sabrina Erdely Was Once Disciplined By Stephen Glass For Fabrication  —  And you thought this whole story couldn't get more bizarre.  According to “Penn In Ink,” a collection of essays about the University of Pennsylvania by author Samuel Hughes, Sabrina Erdely (Sabrina Rubin at the time) …