Escort says Menendez prostitution claims were made up  —  View Photo Gallery — Sen. Robert Menendez: Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has been embroiled in a controversy involving his relations with a Miami campaign contributor and the awarding of a security contract at a port in the Dominican Republic.

Jeb Bush's Immigration Flip Flop Stuns Reformers  —  After years of building a reputation as the “good” Republican on immigration, Jeb Bush shocked the reform community on Monday by ruling out a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a position solidly to the right of prominent GOPers like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

The White House Agrees: It's Time to Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking  —  Two weeks ago, a petition asking the White House to act on a recent Library of Congress decision that restricted consumer use of cell phones reached the required threshold for a response.

Theatrical Slut Shaming: Daily Caller Attacks Ashley Judd For Nude Scenes  —  It's a sign of how anxious the right wing is about the possibility that Ashley Judd might run for Senate against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that the attacks on her have geared up before she's even formally entered the race.

GOP still playing blame game after 2012  —  Four months after taking an electoral pounding, Republicans can't agree on what went wrong in 2012 — let alone on a path to recovery.  —  Each week brings a new diagnosis of the party's woes.  Karl Rove says it's candidate quality.

Obama job approval tumbles  —  President Obama's job approval rating took a hit over the weekend, falling to its lowest level in the Gallup three-day average since his reelection.  —  His approval rating was 46 percent between Feb 29 and March 2, down from 53 percent a week earlier.

Florida House Committee Blocks Medicaid Expansion  —  A key committee in the Florida House of Representatives on Monday rejected an expansion of the state's Medicaid program as proposed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) last month, Reuters reports: … Republicans currently hold majorities of 26-14 in the Senate and 76-44 in the House.

Twitter Reaction to Events Often at Odds with Overall Public Opinion  —  The reaction on Twitter to major political events and policy decisions often differs a great deal from public opinion as measured by surveys.  This is the conclusion of a year-long Pew Research Center study that compared …

Obama's Thirteen Words  —  Remember George W. Bush's famous “16 words”?  They came from Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech, where Bush said: “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

Pundits blowing it on sequester debate  —  Republicans are waving around a column by the New York Times' Bill Keller that pins the blame for the sequester on the President.  The title is “Obama's fault,” and Keller's effort is reminiscent of plenty of other punditry we've seen that adopts …

Urk, Charlie Rose Edition  —  Well, we'll see how it comes out after editing, but I feel that I just had my Denver debate moment: I was tired, cranky, and unready for the blizzard of misleading factoids and diversionary stuff (In 1997 you said that the aging population was a big problem!

The Bi-Sexual T**d in the Gay Wedding Punchbowl  —  The next time you're at a “gay ' wedding with political, media or other important pro-gay-marriage celebrities, and one of them gets up with a glass of wedding punch to toast Partner A and Partner B for their courage to “be themselves,” …

GOP wants crazy after all these years  —  In politics, snubs are more important than invites.  —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican and social conservative, has been refused a speaking spot at the Conservative Political Action Conference to be held next week just outside Washington .