The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income  —  Increasing the minimum wage would have two principal effects on low-wage workers.  Most of them would receive higher pay that would increase their family's income, and some of those families would see their income rise above the federal poverty threshold.

Baca apologizes for calling Negrete McLeod a ‘bimbo’  —  Former Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) is apologizing for calling Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Calif.) “some bimbo” after the woman who defeated him last year announced her retirement.  —  In an interview earlier Tuesday with The Hill …

Kiev Protesters Set Square Ablaze to Thwart Police  —  KIEV, Ukraine — With hundreds of riot police officers advancing from all sides after a day of deadly mayhem here in the Ukrainian capital, antigovernment protesters mounted a final desperate and seemingly doomed act of defiance late on Tuesday evening …

President Obama Pens Personal Apology to an Art Historian  —  Art historian Ann Collins Johns of the University of Texas at Austin (image used with permission)  —  Professor Ann Collins Johns at the University of Texas at Austin was just as peeved as many people were about President Barack Obama's knock on art history majors.

It's True: Liberals Like Cats More Than Conservatives Do  —  Preferences for pets or particular kinds of food can accurately predict partisanship, research from more than 200,000 TIME readers shows  —  In January, TIME ran a 12-question quiz that guessed your politics based on things …

Who are the real thugs?  —  Let's play a game.  It's called: “Who's the Thug?”  —  It's the day after Thanksgiving 2012, and four teenagers are sitting in a Dodge Durango outside a convenience store in Jacksonville, Fla.  —  The Durango is red, which is unimportant.  The teenagers are black, which is important.

Obamacare changes may include extension of risk corridors  —  CONGRESS OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE PENNAVE  —  The Obama Administration may extend beyond 2016 a federal reimbursement program for health insurance companies that lose money by participating in the newly created health care exchanges.

McCain eyes Armed Services Committee  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday night said if Republicans win control of the Senate this year, he would want to be chairman of the Armed Services Committee.  —  McCain was asked in an interview on Phoenix radio station KFYI's “The Mike Broomhead Show” …

The IRS targets political speech again  —  Discouraging debate and curbing information … The Internal Revenue Service is used to being universally disliked every April 15.  But this year, the widespread denunciations have started early, and for good reason.

Why the Archbishop of Westminster is wrong about welfare  —  Our plan for Britain is not just about saving money, but about doing what is right, says the Prime Minister  —  It is sometimes said that the Church should not get involved in politics.  I disagree.

Homeland Security is seeking a national license plate tracking system  —  The Department of Homeland Security wants a private company to provide a national license-plate tracking system that would give the agency access to vast amounts of information from commercial and law enforcement tag readers …

Jim Crow laws for gays and lesbians?  Column  —  Kansas legislation could make discrimination easy.  —  What's the matter with Kansas?  A bill protecting the religious freedom of businesses and individuals to refuse services to same-sex couples passed the state House of Representatives last week.

Teachers could spank harder under bill pending in KS Legislature  —  A Kansas lawmaker wants to give school teachers and caregivers more power to spank children.  —  Kansas House member Gail Finney, D-Wichita, said the bill is designed to restore parental rights.

Obama's stimulus became a special-interest feeding frenzy  —  President Obama came into office just over five years ago promising to reduce the power of corporate lobbyists and to increase government's role in the economy.  —  In his first month, he showed that the two promises were incompatible.

Venezuela opposition leader surrenders, protesters flood streets  —  (Reuters) - Venezuelan security forces arrested opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Tuesday on charges of fomenting unrest that has killed at least four people, bringing tens of thousands of angry supporters onto the streets of Caracas.

Low-Wage Workers Have Experienced Wage Erosion in Nearly Every State  —  Though six years have passed since the Great Recession officially began in December 2007 and four-and-a-half years since its official end in June 2009, U.S. workers continue to feel the impact of the recession …

Greg Abbott says he's campaigning with Ted Nugent “to expose” Wendy Davis on gun rights  —  Republican Greg Abbott touted Ted Nugent today as a political comrade in arms.  He largely avoided questions about Democrats who have singed out Nugent's outspoken comments calling President Obama …

LRC employee fired for appearing in Grimes video  —  FRANKFORT, KY. — Charles Booker, a legislative employee who appeared in an online video of Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes' campaign for the U.S. Senate, was fired Monday for violating a staff policy against partisan political activity.

Rand Paul's Republican revolution  —  DALLAS — It's 7 a.m. on a Saturday, Rand Paul is exhausted and airport security has just confiscated his morning joe.  —  “The TSA took away my coffee,” the libertarian-leaning senator, Houston-bound for a day of events with GOP activists, complains of the federal agency he's proposed abolishing.