Gay Alabama Lawmaker Threatens To Expose Colleagues' Marital Infidelities  —  WASHINGTON — Alabama's only openly gay legislator is putting her anti-gay colleagues on notice: If they keep espousing family values rhetoric as a reason to oppose marriage equality, she'll start making their marital infidelities public.

The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2015 to 2025  —  The federal budget deficit, which has fallen sharply during the past few years, is projected to hold steady relative to the size of the economy through 2018.  Beyond that point, however, the gap between spending and revenues is projected to grow …

Romney's Consideration of Candidacy Is Closely Tied to His Faith, Allies Say  —  WASHINGTON — A prominent Republican delivered a direct request to Mitt Romney not long ago: He should make a third run for the presidency, not for vanity or redemption, but to answer a higher calling from his faith.

The Koch network's 2016 spending goal: $889 million  —  The Koch brothers' political operation intends to spend $889 million in the run-up to the 2016 elections, according to an attendee at the operation's annual winter donor gathering in the California dessert.

Former Fox Station Employee Shoots Himself Outside News Corporation Building  —  A former employee of a Fox television station in Texas shot himself outside the front doors of a Midtown Manhattan office building shortly before 9 a.m. Monday, a law-enforcement official said.

Governor's Office releases statement regarding Gov. Branstad  —  Iowa Governor's Office spokesman Jimmy Centers today released the following statement after Gov. Terry Branstad fell ill at an event at DuPont Pioneer:  —  “Gov. Branstad fell ill at an event today at DuPont Pioneer.

Democratic Congressman: A Lot Of Strong GOP Support For Israel “Has To Do With Fundraising”  —  “You know, I'm a Jewish member of Congress, I'm a strong supporter of Israel, but my first obligation is to the Constitution of the United States, not to the Constitution of Israel.”  —  w.soundcloud.com

Deflategate fallout: NFL focusing on Patriots' locker-room attendant … PHOENIX — Deflategate has taken another twist.  —  FOX Sports has learned that the NFL has zeroed in on a New England Patriots locker-room attendant in connection with the scandal of improperly inflated footballs used …

Pence state-run news outlet will compete with media  —  Gov. Mike Pence is starting a state-run taxpayer-funded news service that will provide pre-written news stories to Indiana news outlets, as well as sometimes break news about his administration, according to documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star.

Three teens charged in slaying of 14-year-old girl  —  Three Kansas City teenagers have been charged in the murder of a 14-year-old girl at a water park.  —  Issac M.  “Malik” Carter, 17, Ce-Antonyo D. Kennedy, 17, and Dominic “Nick” McDaniel, 18, have all been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal

Lawmaker asks Colorado to pay for IUD program  —  Health experts call it a wildly successful poverty-fighting measure and a good return on investment.  —  Others are adamantly opposed to the idea that the state would provide long-acting contraception to low-income women.

Everybody Hates Chris Christie  —  We're a long way from knowing who will be the Republican nominee for president in 2016.  Early polling data, however, can give us a sense for who fits the profile of past nominees, and who doesn't.  —  Since 1980, two types of candidates …

End Obamacare, and people could die.  That's okay.  —  We make such trade-offs all the time.  —  Michael R. Strain is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.  —  Say conservatives have their way with Obamacare, and the Supreme Court deals it a death blow or a Republican president repeals it in 2017.

U.S. Spies on Millions of Cars  —  DEA Uses License-Plate Readers to Build Database for Federal, Local Authorities  —  WASHINGTON—The Justice Department has been building a national database to track in real time the movement of vehicles around the U.S., a secret domestic intelligence-gathering program …

17-Year-Old Girl Shot Dead By Three Cops At Texas Police Station  —  CREDIT: Kristiana Coignard, Courtesy of Heather Robertson  —  On Thursday, 17-year-old Kristiana Coignard was shot dead by three police officers in the lobby of the Longview Police Department.

Inside Hillary Clinton's 2016 plan  —  New campaign takes shape, with ‘big-tent mentality’ and ‘good cop’ for press.  —  Not only is she running, but we have a very good idea of what it will look like.  —  Hillary Clinton is in the final stages of planning a presidential campaign …

Russia Credit Rating Cut to Junk by S&P First Time in Decade  —  Russia's credit rating was cut to junk by Standard & Poor's, putting it below investment grade for the first time in a decade.  —  S&P, which last downgraded Russia in April, cut the sovereign one step to BB+, according to a statement.

Ending Greece's Nightmare  —  Alexis Tsipras, leader of the left-wing Syriza coalition, is about to become prime minister of Greece.  He will be the first European leader elected on an explicit promise to challenge the austerity policies that have prevailed since 2010.

Obama Backs Campaign to Defeat Netanyahu in Israeli Elections  —  Click here to view the embedded video.  —  “No more campaigns to run” in America, at least.  —  Caroline Glick picked up on one article the Israeli left-wing paper Ha'aretz didn't bother translating into English …

A Threat Too Small for Radar Rattles the White House  —  WASHINGTON — A White House radar system designed to detect flying objects like planes, missiles and large drones failed to pick up a small drone that crashed into a tree on the South Lawn early Monday morning, according to law enforcement officials.

Transgender man has private audience with Pope Francis  —  Pope Francis on Saturday met with a transgender man from Spain during a private audience at the Vatican.  (Photo by Jeon Han; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)  —  A transgender man from Spain had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday.