GOP Field's Private Sector Work Unpopular  —  Neither Mitt Romney's nor Newt Gingrich's private sector experience is playing particularly well with the American public, although Gingrich's consulting work draws far more criticism than Romney's background buying and restructuring companies.

Rick Perry's campaign burned through millions  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry burned through the bulk of a once-sizable campaign war chest late last year in what became an increasingly desperate attempt to right his listing — and ultimately doomed — presidential campaign, federal financial disclosures released late Monday show.

COMPARING THE COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL AND PRIVATE-SECTOR EMPLOYEES  —  HOW DOES THE COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES COMPARE WITH THAT OF EMPLOYEES IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR?  —  Employees of the federal government and the private sector differ in ways that can affect compensation.

Demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street movement threw condoms on Catholic schoolgirls, refused to allow a Catholic priest to give a closing prayer, and shouted down a pro-life speaker at a Rhode Island right to life rally on Thursday, according to its organizer.

Mitt Romney On Fox & Friends: ‘I Wish I Could Claim I Was Hispanic’  —  On Monday morning's Fox and Friends, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney let out another one of those “I'm running for office, for Pete's sake!” bursts of honesty which, like a burlesque revue at a leper colony, are revealing, but not in a good way.

US bars friends over Twitter joke  —  Ordeal ... Leigh Van Bryan and Emily Bunting were locked up  —  TWO pals were barred from entering the US after innocent tweets joking about “destroying America” were picked up by the country's anti-terror cops.  —  US special agents monitoring Twitter …

Obama's Breach of Faith Over Contraceptive Ruling  —  Obama's breach of faith over contraceptive ruling  —  One of Barack Obama's great attractions as a presidential candidate was his sensitivity to the feelings and intellectual concerns of religious believers.

Leon Panetta's explicitly authoritarian decree  —  The DoD chief says clearly: once the president accuses a citizen of terrorism, execution without trial is permitted  —  CBS News' Scott Pelley appears to be one of the very few American journalists bothered by, or even interested in …

College Says It Exaggerated SAT Figures for Ratings  —  Claremont McKenna College, a small, prestigious California school, said Monday that for the past six years, it has submitted false SAT scores to publications like U.S. News & World Report that use the data in widely followed college rankings.

While clarifying remarks linking civil rights to gay marriage, Gov. Christie calls N.J. assemblyman ‘numbnuts’  —  TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie this morning attempted to clarify statements he made about same sex marriage and civil rights, but in the process called an openly gay assemblyman …

Gingrich Wants A Government That Respects ‘Our Religion’ Not ‘Every Other Religion’  —  As TP's Igor Volsky pointed out today, Newt Gingrich has been accusing President Obama of perpetrating a “war on religion,” saying the president has made it more difficult for people of faith to practice their beliefs.

Bistro at the Bijou owner boots, bans state Sen. Stacey Campfield for AIDS remarks  —  PHOTO BY MICHAEL PATRICK, COPYRIGHT © 2012 //  —  KNOXVILLE — There's no welcome for state Sen. Stacey Campfield on the menu at one popular downtown restaurant.  —  Martha Boggs, owner of the Bistro …

Donald Trump Staff in Talks With Financiers, Campaign Managers to Explore Third Party Bid  —  ABC News' Huma Khan and Jennifer Wlach report:  —  Donald Trump's top political adviser told ABC News he's speaking to “high-level political operatives” to explore a third-party presidential bid …

Stephen Colbert's FEC report: Big money!  —  No kidding: Comedian Stephen Colbert's satirical super PAC raised some serious cash.  —  Between July 1 and Dec. 31, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow collected more than $825,400, ending the year with nearly $674,000 cash on hand …