Story highlights  —  Jake Tapper is anchor of CNN's “The Lead With Jake Tapper” and chief Washington correspondent.  —  Paris (CNN)"Thank you," said the man.  I was standing outside of the offices of Charlie Hebdo covering the aftermath of the terrorist attacks for CNN.

Paul Ryan Won't Run for President in 2016  —  In an interview with NBC News, the former VP nominee says he can make a “huge difference” as House Ways and Means Committee chairman instead.

HISTORY WILL BE VERY KIND  —  And if it's not, it will be for a highly ironic reason.  —  Photograph courtesy of the White House  —  Ten and a half years ago, at the Democratic convention in Boston, Barack Hussein Obama was introduced to America as a youthful, magnetic man who had burst suddenly …

Charlie Hebdo's Wednesday edition to include Prophet Mohammed cartoons  —  Wednesday's edition of Charlie Hebdo will ‘naturally’ contain cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, the magazine's lawyer has announced  —  The next edition of Charlie Hebdo, out on Wednesday with a million-copy print run …

A Peaceful Disclosure - I Am Gay  —  I have read many stories of people who have “come out again” or accepted they are gay after some time in the ex-gay world.  Many of their stories are compelling and well-written.  But, sometimes I wish they would get to the point right off the bat.

Democrats, in a stark shift in messaging, to make big tax-break pitch for middle class  —  Senior Democrats, dissatisfied with the party's tepid prescriptions for combating income inequality, are drafting an “action plan” that calls for a massive transfer of wealth from the super-rich …

I read the French far-right party's platform, and it gets one big thing absolutely right  —  In the wake of the massacre at Charlie Hebdo and a related attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, it's natural to turn attention to Marine Le Pen and her National Front political party …

Antonio Weiss pulls out of 3rd-ranking Treasury slot; will instead serve as counselor  —  NEW YORK — Antonio Weiss, the Wall Street banker who President Barack Obama had picked to be the third-ranking official at the Treasury Department, has asked that the president not resend his nomination …

Federal Government Launches Social Media Audit After CENTCOM Hack  —  “More than 800 federal managers” ordered to check their social media security after an embarrassing break-in at the Pentagon.  —  WASHINGTON — Within minutes of the first reports that CENTCOM's social media feeds …

Not a Single Person Has Donated to Dick Morris's Anti-Hillary Super PAC  —  Sixteen months ago, to some fanfare, Dick Morris re-entered the anti-Clinton fray with a new PAC.  He launched Dick Morris's Just Say No to Hillary PAC, registering it from Tampa.  From time to time …

House Budget Chair Signals Big Social Security Reforms A-Coming  —  The new House Budget Committee chairman hinted Monday that he had big plans for Social Security reform in the next two years, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  —  A week after the House voted on a rule …

Ben Carson's Troubling Connection  —  In March of last year, Dr. Ben Carson, the conservative star considered a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, appeared in a video for Mannatech, Inc., a Texas-based medical supplement maker.  Smiling into the camera, he extolled the benefits of the company's “glyconutrient” products:

Supreme Court Puts Off Decision On Hearing A Same-Sex Marriage Case For Friday  —  The justices turned down Louisiana same-sex couples' request to skip over the appeals court and take their case directly, but they had no word on the cases out of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

It's always better to be candid than coy.  While I am humbled by the widespread encouragement of so many and hold in the highest esteem those who serve us in federal office, I know that my head and my heart, my young family's future, and our unfinished work all remain firmly in the State …

‘White genocide’ billboard posted on I-59, similar to ‘anti-white’ sign near Leeds  —  For the second time in less than a year, a billboard near Birmingham is carrying a racial message connected to a segregationist screed.  —  Posted along I-59 near Springville in St. Clair county …