Obama, Democrats at odds before State of the Union address  —  Tensions between liberal Democrats and President Obama are bubbling up as the president heads to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to deliver his final State of the Union address to a restless ­Congress.

Hillary Clinton Races to Close Enthusiasm Gap With Bernie Sanders in Iowa  —  DES MOINES — Iowa Democrats are displaying far less passion for Hillary Clinton than for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont three weeks before the presidential caucuses, creating anxiety inside the Clinton campaign …

Biden says Obama offered financial help amid son's illness  —  Washington (CNN)As his eldest son faced the prospect of resigning as Delaware's attorney general amid health concerns, Vice President Joe Biden received an offer that floored him: financial support from his boss, President Barack Obama.

War over gay marriage to play out at SOTU  —  Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More  —  President Obama's effort to stack the audience with those who support his causes at his last State of the Union Address is being rebuffed by conservatives inviting guests that challenged Obamacare and gay marriage.

Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina Cut From Next Republican Mainstage Debate  —  Republican presidential candidates Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina have been cut from the next mainstage debate on Thursday.  —  According to a newly-announced lineup by debate host Fox Business Network …

Supreme Court conservatives appear ready to overturn mandatory union fees  —  People participate in a Jan. 11 rally at the Supreme Court in Washington as the justices heard arguments in Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Assn.  —  Reporting from Washington

Why Republicans Wouldn't Actually Repeal Obamacare  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan attend an unveiling ceremony for a bust of former Vice President Dick Cheney on December 3, 2015.  —  Last week, in a bold example of their governing prowess …

RISE IN MIGRANTS LEAVING GERMANY FOLLOWING COLOGNE SEX ATTACKS  —  Germany has started sending a growing number of migrants back to Austria since the New Year's Eve sex attacks in Cologne shocked the country.  —  Some of the departing migrants said they did not want asylum in Germany …

President Obama on Donald Trump: ‘Talk to me if he wins’  —  President Obama, on the eve of his final State of the Union address, rejected the message Donald Trump has capitalized on in his presidential campaign.  —  “The message that Donald Trump's putting out has had adherence a lot of times during the course of our history.

David Bowie Allowed His Art to Deliver a Final Message  —  In the video for David Bowie's “Lazarus,” released last week, the mythic singer and rock ‘n’ roll shape-shifter, ever thin but bordering on gaunt, is blindfolded and writhing in a hospital bed.  “Look up here, I'm in heaven,” he sings.

Chinese Gaming Billionaire Buys U.S. Gay Dating App Grindr  —  Beijing Kunlun Tech offers $93 million for 60 percent stake  —  Kunlun shares hit maximum daily limit in share trading  —  One of China's newly minted technology billionaires signed a deal to buy a controlling stake in Grindr …

Is This The End of ‘The New Republic’?  —  After spending ‘over $20 million’ on the political and cultural journal, Chris Hughes' decision to sell ‘TNR’ could mark its death knell.  —  In what some knowledgeable observers characterized as the death knell for a nearly 102-year-old American institution …

Executive actions used to enhance power of government  —  There he goes again.  President Obama is shamelessly, cynically and hypocritically exploiting a mass shooting to advance his gun control agenda.  The executive actions he proposed Tuesday would have had no preventive impact whatsoever …

Clinton Considered Secret Plan to Spark Palestinian Protests  —  Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton considered a secret plan created by her then-advisers to foment unrest among Palestinian citizens and spark protests in order to push the Israeli government back to the negotiating table …

Teen behind deadly crash didn't have legal license  —  PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) — A 17-year-old accused of causing a deadly crash while trying to outrun officers didn't have a legal license, records show.  —  David Michael Mills will be charged with driving while his license was suspended, revoked or denied, causing death.

Father of Koch Brothers Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says  —  The father of the billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch helped construct a major oil refinery in Nazi Germany that was personally approved by Adolf Hitler, according to a new history of the Kochs and other wealthy families.