U.S. endorses limited gay marriage right  —  The Obama administration on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to rule in the case of California's Proposition 8 that same-sex marriage should be required in eight more states, beyond the nine that already permit it, although it stopped short …

House Republicans Cheer Boehner's Refusal to Negotiate on Cuts  —  WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, the man who spent significant portions of the last Congress shuttling to and from the White House for fiscal talks with President Obama that ultimately failed twice to produce a grand bargain …

Michelle Obama Not Surprised By Reaction To Oscars Appearance  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Michelle Obama says it was “absolutely not surprising” to her that her satellite appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony provoked a national conversation about whether it was appropriate …

Businessweek Warns That Minorities May Be Buying Houses Again  —  Bloomberg Businessweek is a genuinely great magazine that does an amazing job of making business and economics news accessible and interesting, but this way of illustrating a cover story about the return of aggressive mortgage lending products is really something else.

Irked lawmakers say Kerry left them in the dark on Syria aid  —  Lawmakers on Thursday said the State Department left Congress in the dark about the administration's decision to aid rebel forces in Syria.  —  The leaders of the panels that cover foreign policy told The Hill they weren't briefed ahead …

Romney likens 2012 race to ‘roller coaster,’ in exclusive ‘Fox News Sunday’ interview  —  Mitt Romney, in an exclusive interview with “Fox News Sunday,” said the end of the 2012 presidential race was like getting off a roller coaster.  —  “We were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs.

Why Scalia's ‘Racial Entitlement’ Quote Is Even Scarier Than You Think  —  Justice Antonin Scalia quite deservedly came under fire yesterday for his claim that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act is a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.”  If the justice were looking to confirm every suspicion …

Ben Bernanke, Hippie  —  We're just a few weeks away from a milestone I suspect most of Washington would like to forget: the start of the Iraq war.  What I remember from that time is the utter impenetrability of the elite prowar consensus.  If you tried to point out that the Bush administration …

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Regrets Surprise Announcement of Immigrant Release  —  Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had no part in a decision by underlings to release low-risk illegal immigrant detainees as a way to save money before the sequestration …

Maxine Waters: ‘Over 170 Million Jobs Could Be Lost’ Due To Sequestration  —  Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) claimed today that “over 170 million jobs” could be lost due to sequestration.  Later in the presser, Rep. Waters corrected herself, saying it was only “750,000 jobs” that could be lost.

Many Steps to Be Taken When ‘Sequester’ Is Law  —  WASHINGTON — At some point on Friday (no one will say precisely when), President Obama will formally notify government agencies that an obscure process known as sequestration is in effect, triggering deep, across-the-board budget cuts that will force federal spending to shrink.

Hail Armageddon  —  “The worst-case scenario for us,” a leading anti-budget-cuts lobbyist told The Post, “is the sequester hits and nothing bad really happens.”  —  Think about that.  Worst case?  That a government drowning in debt should cut back by 2.2 percent — and the country survives.