American Politics: Why the Thrill Is Gone  —  Earlier this month, the Upshot—the Times's “politics and policy vertical,” as it's known in the business—ran a lengthy analysis of the Presidential campaign on the Republican side.  The piece came up with three categories of candidates …

Rand Paul yanks Ray-Bans after complaint  —  Ray-Ban has asked Sen. Rand Paul's presidential campaign to quit selling the brand's Wayfarer sunglasses, which Paul had imprinted with the “Rand” logo.  —  The Rand-Ban sunglasses were for sale for $150 on Paul's website as recently as Tuesday.

‘Killing Jews is Worship’ posters will soon appear on NYC subways and buses  —  New Yorkers are used to aggressive advertising.  Banners for breast implants.  Billboards for condoms.  But a federal judge's ruling has opened the door for far more controversial posters on buses and subways across the city.

Carly Fiorina to Launch Presidential Campaign on May 4  —  Former Hewlett-Packard CEO will declare GOP campaign online  —  Carly Fiorina plans to launch her presidential campaign on May 4, in an online announcement that dispenses with the pageantry that has become de rigueur in 2016 White House runs.

Say hi to Fi: A new way to say hello  —  In today's mobile world, fast and reliable connectivity is almost second nature.  But even in places like the U.S., where mobile connections are nearly ubiquitous, there are still times when you turn to your phone for that split-second answer and don't have fast enough speed.

I am a cook in the US Senate but I still need food stamps to feed my children  —  I work 70 hours a week doing two jobs but cannot make ends meet.  Presidential hopefuls must make profitable federal contractors pay living wages  —  very day, I serve food to some of the most powerful people on earth …

Secret Koch memo outlines plans for 2016  —  Documents detail plans to beef up the network's state-of-the-art data system and pay hundreds of staff embedded in local communities across the country.  —  The Koch brothers' political machine is expanding into new states and recruiting new donors …

Obama Administration Admits Granting Known Gang Member Amnesty  —  The Obama administration is admitting it granted executive amnesty protections to a known gang member — one charged with four counts of murder — and is now reviewing prior approvals to double check that other gang members …

Ted Cruz Showed Eloquence, and Limits, as Debater at Princeton  —  PRINCETON, N.J. — By the time he was a senior at Princeton University in 1992, Ted Cruz had developed an arsenal of rhetorical skills and theatrical gestures that made him one of the most polished performers on the college debate circuit.

Conservative Republicans Alone on Global Warming's Timing  —  Story Highlights  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — While notable majorities of all other political party/ideology groups say the effects of global warming will happen within their lifetime, fewer than four in 10 conservative Republicans …

MSNBC's Touré Has the Taxman on His Case  —  The Taxman Cometh for Touré (Michael Loccisano/Getty)

Marco Rubio's Biggest Problem Isn't Jeb Bush  —  The friends-turned-rivals narrative is salacious, but the numbers show that Rubio should be worried about a different candidate.  —  At first glance, Jeb Bush looks like the biggest obstacle to Marco Rubio's presidential aspirations.

Pregnant restaurant worker fired after armed robbery  —  CHANNELVIEW, Texas - A fast food restaurant is robbed and the shift manager says she got fired for refusing to pay the money back.  —  “I told them I'm not paying nothing,” said Marissa Holcomb.  “I just had a gun to me.  I'm not paying the money.”

McConnell Introduces Bill to Reauthorize Patriot Act Until 2020  —  The move may thwart any attempt to reform the NSA's mass-surveillance authorities.  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill Tuesday night that would reauthorize a controversial surveillance authority …

On the hunt for the presidency, Jeb Bush adopts a ‘caveman’ diet  —  (Reuters) - Jeb Bush is eating like a caveman, and he has literally shrunk in size.  —  The former Florida governor, expected to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, is on the popular Paleo diet …

Eureka Springs pastor in Repeal 2223 video is a convicted serial rapist  —  The Arkansas Times has confirmed that a Baptist preacher in Eureka Springs who features prominently in a new video urging repeal of the city's Ordinance 2223, which protects LGBT people from discrimination …

U-Va. Associate Dean Nicole Eramo blasts Rolling Stone in open letter  —  This month, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism issued a widely read report citing a number of lapses in Rolling Stone's execution of “A Rape on Campus,” the deeply flawed and ultimately retracted story …

Lindsey Graham, John McCain bite back at Paul over ‘lapdog’ diss  —  The Senate's Two Amigos are firing back at Rand Paul's “lapdog” diss.  —  Paul, the 2016 GOP presidential contender who's tussled with Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain over foreign policy, took aim at the hawkish duo …

Rand Paul Says It's ‘Sexist’ To Think He Was Being Sexist With Female Reporters  —  In an interview with Iowa talk radio host Simon Conway yesterday, Sen. Rand Paul pushed back against claims that he has a pattern of interrupting and acting rudely towards female reporters …

18 spectacularly wrong apocalyptic predictions made around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, expect more this year  —  In the May 2000 issue of Reason Magazine, award-winning science correspondent Ronald Bailey wrote an excellent article titled “Earth Day, Then and Now” …

Fifty-seven DNR staff receive layoff notices amid talk of budget cuts  —  Fifty-seven employees of the state Department of Natural Resources began receiving formal notices this week that they might face layoff as part of Gov. Scott Walker's budget for the next two fiscal years.

Release of Benghazi Report on Hillary Clinton Likely Pushed to Election Season  —  The findings of a Republican-led committee investigating Hillary Clinton's response to the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, likely will not be released until next year, just months before the 2016 presidential election.

Hillary Clinton Flies First Class Back to Washington  —  With her first campaign trip drawing to a close, Hillary Clinton traded the Scooby road-trip van for a first-class airplane seat to make the trip back to Washington.  —  The Democratic presidential candidate flew from Boston's Logan Airport …

Senate passes trafficking bill 99-0, ending long abortion fight  —  The Senate on Wednesday passed legislation aimed at curbing human trafficking, ending a monthlong fight over abortion that bitterly divided the parties and held up attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch.

Perino: Reid ‘absolutely poisonous’  —  Dana Perino, the White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, on Tuesday excoriated Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), calling him “poisonous.”  —  “He's an absolutely poisonous figure in Washington, D.C., he's been a disaster for the country …

Krautmas came two weeks early this year … We've had five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months and five months …

Mitch McConnell Shouldn't Get Comfortable  —  Why Democrats are poised to recapture the Senate.  —  After picking up nine seats in the 2014 elections, Republicans maintain a decisive 54-seat majority in the Senate.  In 2016, they will face a much more difficult map that coincides with a presidential election year.

What is it like to be the neighbor of a “free-range kid”?  —  The Meitiv family of Maryland—scientists Danielle and Alexander, their 10-year-old son, and their 6-year-old daughter—became the national faces of the “free-range parenting” movement in December.