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 …

Lawmaker Makes Lewd Remark to Teenage Girl  —  Connecticut state Rep. Ernest Hewett (D) made an inappropriate remark to a 17 year old girl testifying about a program that helped her overcome her shyness and get over her fear of snakes, the New London Day reports.

Covert Malaysian Campaign Touched A Wide Range Of American Media  —  Outlets from Huffington Post to National Review carried pieces financed by the Malaysian government.  An international campaign against Anwar Ibrahim.  —  Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak (R) talks …

BREAKING: Solicitor General asks Supreme Court for time to participate in Prop 8 argument  —  Plaintiffs in the Prop 8 case.  Attribution: LGBTQ Nation  —  The Solicitor General of the United States, who filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court yesterday in Hollingsworth v. Perry …

If you might want to insult Harvard down the line, go elsewhere  —  If you think Harvard is a revolutionary communist hotbed, don't apply.  If you think Harvard is full of “pinheaded” professors, don't enroll.  And if you think Harvard pollutes the minds of its students …

An Economic Tragedy That Everyone Saw Coming Is Now Unfolding In Europe...  The European economy has been a trainwreck for a long time, but there have been varying stages of it.  —  From 2007 through 2010 or so, the European economy basically went through the same trajectory as the US.

A Cheer or Two for Sequestration  —  From left, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and House Speaker John Boehner speak at a news conference on Tuesday in Washington.  —  A lot of liberals I read are very hot to trot with the idea that Congress should just repeal sequestration tout court.

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.

More than 700 pages of healthcare rules released  —  The Obama administration on Friday released more than 700 pages of new regulations to implement portions of the Affordable Care Act.  —  The four rules, which are scheduled for publication in mid-March, finalize both major and minor parts …

NRA president: Gun owners will do 'whatever's necessary' to ‘get rid of’ anti-gun lawmakers  —  National Rifle Association (NRA) President David Keene on Thursday promised that gun owners would do “whatever's necessary” to “get rid of those in public office” that they viewed as working to erode the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

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 …

Duke Energy won't be repaid $10 million from DNC  —  Duke Energy won't be repaid the $10 million line of credit it guaranteed for Charlotte to host last year's Democratic National Convention, the company confirmed Thursday.  —  As the credit line came due, Duke made official what it had signaled …

Obama: I Can't Use ‘Jedi Mindmeld’ On Congress To Fix Sequestration  —  Asked why he doesn't just sit down with congressional leaders until a sequestration deal is reached, President Obama said Friday that he can't lock lawmakers in a room.  —  “I am not a dictator, I'm the President,” Obama said.

Massachusetts official challenges Chief Justice Roberts' claim about voting  —  Galvin rebukes nation's top judge  —  Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. certainly sounded authoritative when he made a striking, though unflattering, declaration about Massachusetts …

CPAC's Empty Chairs  —  The sponsors and organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) are voluntary associations that are of course entitled to advocate conservative causes as they see fit, including by controlling who is and who is not invited to participate in the conference.

Horsemeat scandal: Four new products test positive  —  Nearly 2,000 tests for horsemeat have been carried out by British retailers  —  Four beef products sold by Bird's Eye, Taco Bell and catering supplier Brakes have been found to contain horse DNA, the Food Standards Agency says.