Saxby Chambliss: 'I'm not gay.  So I'm not going to marry one'  —  Support for gay marriage is picking up steam all over the country — except on Capitol Hill.  —  Take Sen. Saxby Chambliss.  When asked if his views had changed on gay marriage, the Georgia Republican quipped: “I'm not gay.

Obama Appears to Move Closer to Israeli Position on Peace Talks  —  RAMALLAH, West Bank — President Obama, visiting the Israeli-occupied West Bank, appeared to move closer to the Israeli position on Thursday regarding resumption of long-stalled peace talks with the Palestinians …

Cuomo Seeks to Ease a Newly Passed Gun Restriction  —  ALBANY — In the wake of the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York pushed through the State Legislature gun control measures that included not only a tougher assault weapons ban but also a tighter restriction …

Romney campaign chief to lead new GOP research group  —  (CNN) - Post-mortems written after the 2012 campaign focused on a variety of Republican shortcomings: underwhelming television ads, an outdated voter contact model, and a message that was out-of-step with the changing face of America.

Analysis: Obama, he had us at ‘Shalom’  —  We so want to be accepted, so want to be understood.  —  He had us at the word “Shalom,” did President Barack Obama, on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport.  —  Or if not at “Shalom,” then 33 words later when he said in Hebrew, “Tov lihiyot shuv ba'aretz” (It's good to be back in Israel).

What Needless, Xenophobic Panic Looks Like  —  While researching another item, I came across a Townhall column written by Michelle Malkin in 2002, a couple years before she published her book, In Defense of Internment: The Case for Racial Profiling in World War II and the War on Terror.

Pediatrics Group Backs Gay Marriage, Saying It Helps Children  —  The American Academy of Pediatrics declared its support for same-sex marriage for the first time on Thursday, saying that allowing gay and lesbian parents to marry if they so choose is in the best interests of their children.

Native American Lawmaker To Anti-Immigrant Kansas Official: ‘When You Mention Illegal Immigrant, I Think Of All Of You’  —  Left: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R).  Right: State Rep. Ponka-We Victors (D).  —  A Native American state representative in Kansas rebuked Secretary of State Kris Kobach …

Obama Job Approval Slips as Economic Pessimism Rises  —  Positive Signs on Stocks, Housing Have Little Impact  —  OVERVIEW  —  Barack Obama's job approval rating has tumbled since shortly after his re-election, as the public's economic expectations for the coming year have soured.

Unified House Republicans poised to pass Ryan budget blueprint  —  Republican leaders are poised to pass Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget on Thursday, having convinced centrists and conservatives to back the blueprint that Democrats believe is their road map back to the House majority.

Why I was hoping for a government shutdown  —  I'll be honest.  I was sort of hoping for a government shutdown.  —  Congress, you're terrible at your job.  (Andrew Harrer/Bloomber)  —  It's not that I like government shutdowns.  I'm as big a fan of national parks as the next guy.

Michele Bachmann: Obamacare Will ‘Literally’ Kill People  —  As the country prepares to celebrate the third anniversary of health care reform, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) insisted on Thursday that the Affordable Care Act will “kill” vulnerable women and children during a speech on the floor of the House.

THE SILENT MAJORITIES  —  There's a lot of buzz at and around the Cool Kidz table today because, glorioski, there's actually another budget proposal out there, the one put together by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and it not only seems to make more sense to more people than, for example …

Secret report raises alarms on intelligence blind spots because of AQ focus  —  A panel of White House advisers warned President Obama in a secret report that U.S. spy agencies were paying inadequate attention to China, the Middle East and other national security flash points because they had become …

Heckler Interrupts Obama Speech In Jerusalem (VIDEO)  —  A heckler briefly interrupted President Barack Obama's speech to the Israeli people Thursday at a university in Jerusalem, which drew boos from the crowd.  —  “This is part of the lively debate that we talked about.

West Virginia paper's anti-LGBT column wants death for ‘n*ggers, spics, kikes and wops’  —  A newspaper in West Virginia is defending its decision to publish a reader's racist and homophobic comments, which called for “queers” to be put to death along with “n*ggers, spics, kikes and wops.”