Debating Bill Maher on Muslims, Islam and US foreign policy

Glenn Greenwald

The HBO host has become a leading advocate of the view that Islam is uniquely violent and threatening

Fox: New Evidence Hillary Killed Lincoln

In what may be the most serious allegation ever made against the former Secretary of State, Fox News Channel reported today that Hillary Clinton was involved in the conspiracy to murder President Abraham Lincoln.

The latest charge against Mrs. Clinton was reported by Fox host Sean Hannity, who said that the evidence of her role in the Lincoln assassination came mainly in the form of e-mails.

 Scrubbing the Truth from Benghazi

Ron Fournier

It would be naïve to expect any White House to ignore the political implications of a foreign policy crisis occurring two months before a presidential election. But there is a reason why no White House admits to finessing a tragedy: It's unseemly. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland injected politics into the U.S. response to Benghazi when she raised objections to draft "talking points" being prepared for Rice's television appearances.

Rubio’s high-stakes push for immigration reform

Dan Balz

 Proposed legislation’s fate could be crucial both for the Republican senator from Florida and for his party

Immigration reform is one of President Obama’s most important second-term priorities, but for now the president has been relegated to a secondary role in the debate. Because his views are anathema to conservatives, the less he says about the bill, the better may be its chances of passing. In Obama’s place, Rubio has emerged as the most significant public voice on the issue.

The Long Shadow of Bad Credit in a Job Search

By GARY RIVLIN

Many companies, especially some retailers, use an applicant’s credit report in making hiring decisions.

“No one lets me explain, ‘Hey, I had this freak injury when I didn’t have health insurance,’ ” he said. “It’s black and white: ‘You have these bad marks on your record, you don’t get hired.’ ” Down to his last $200, he applied for and was granted food stamps and federal housing assistance.

Shrinking Budget Forces Army Into New Battle

The Army faces a dilemma: It must shrink amid peacetime budget cuts but avoid leaving the U.S. vulnerable to threats by such countries as North Korea or Iran.

The Army is the largest military branch and—with salary, pensions, health care and other costs rising much faster than inflation—the most expensive. A single soldier costs the Army an average of $531,427 a year when at war overseas and $118,368 when garrisoned.

Freshman senator with senior pluck takes on the financial industry

Elizabeth Warren, who ranks 97th out of 100 members, refuses to be just seen and not heard. She is already bashing regulators as well as big-bank executives.

"I'm really concerned that too-big-to-fail has become too big for trial"

U.S.: Russia Withheld Intel on Boston Suspect

U.S. officials say Russia failed to share crucial text messages between the mother of alleged Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and a relative. The information Russia withheld "would have allowed the bureau to open an investigation where you could track [Mr. Tsarnaev's] communications," said House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.). "To me, that's where the ball really got dropped."

Barack Obama Pays Off His Rich Backers

by Lloyd Green

President Obama’s pincer movement on the middle class continues.  To the rich, Obama has bequeathed billionaire Penny Pritzker as Commerce Secretary, and to the poor he bestows North Carolina Congressman Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Administration. As for the middle class, Obama sticks them with a Social Security tax hike.

Would you let your daughter join the army?

Kayla Williams

 As a vet, I know that the military has a lot it needs to change for women, but there are also tremendous opportunities

 "There are a surprising number of benefits specifically for women about military service. I've written about how my time in the army taught me a number of skills that have since helped me succeed in the civilian world, including how to present myself effectively; control my emotions; prioritize, plan and be decisive; keep perspective; and recognize my own strength."

Democrats think McConnell can be beaten. First, they need a candidate.

Karen Tumulty

Polls suggest that the Senate minority leader, a great antagonist of the majority party, is vulnerable.

McConnell is concerned enough about his 2014 reelection to have begun running television ads in March — 20 months before Election Day, and the earliest of any senator up for reelection next year.

 How the GOP Can Win the Values Debate

Michael Wear

The secret to what ails both parties, and our politics, is a return to the 2000s, the days of compassionate conservatism and culture-war compromises.

Why Benghazi is a perfect political storm for Republicans

Posted by Chris Cillizza

Benghazi isn’t going away as a political issue any time soon. Why? Because, wherever you come down on the policy debate surrounding the attack, the politics of demanding more information and answers about what happened are an absolute slam dunk for Republicans seeking to show their base a willingness to hold President Obama accountable.

Benghazi e-mails show State Dept., CIA clashed

Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung

Internal debate played out in development of talking points now at the center of controversy over handling of the incident.

That clash played out in the development of administration talking points that have been at the center of the controversy over the handling of the incident, according to the e-mails that came to light Friday.

2 tech execs quit Zuckerberg's political group

By Jessica Guynn

The Silicon Valley heavyweights decamp the Facebook CEO's lobbying group Fwd.us amid protests from environmentalists and liberal groups, a source tells The Times.

Carbon Dioxide Level Is at Its Highest in Human History

By JUSTIN GILLIS

The amount of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere has reached a level not seen for at least three million years, and scientists believe the rise portends large changes in the climate and sea level.

Carbon dioxide above 400 parts per million was first seen in the Arctic last year, and had also spiked above that level in hourly readings at Mauna Loa. But the average reading for an entire day surpassed that level at Mauna Loa for the first time in the 24 hours that ended at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, according to data from both NOAA and Scripps.

Obama urged to reject Keystone XL

The End of Ryanism

The ideas about austerity and Obamacare that have fueled the GOP have been proven wrong.

 By Jonathan Chait

Levin, and Republicans like Ryan, like to say that Obamacare’s cost control’s consist only of the Independent Payment Advisory Board — “unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats,” as Ryan calls them. In fact, the law created a wide slew of reforms intended to attack health-care inflation from every possible angle. The law created bundled payments, so that Medicare would pay hospitals or groups of doctors based on quality, not quantity, of care. It penalized hospitals that have to readmit patients owing to shoddy work (they previously would enjoy a second payday for doing so), taxed high-cost health-insurance plans, encouraged electronic medical records and research on effective treatments, and many other things. Nobody believed every one of these experiments would work perfectly.

Gabriel Gomez holds GOP hopes of a Senate seat from Massachusetts

Jason Horowitz

With good looks and a good personal story, he hopes to succeed where Scott Brown lost traction.

“I’m not Scott Brown,” snapped Gomez. “I don’t need to catch lightning in a bottle.”

The Next Pandemic: Not if, but When

The new, aggressive pathogens in China and Saudi Arabia may or may not carve a deadly path to the West. But sooner or later, you can be sure, one will.

Should Non-Citizens Be Able to Serve on Juries?

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

California seems to think so.

A proposal in California to expand the jury pool raises important questions about the meaning of citizenship and the nature of sovereignty.

American citizenship is a legal commitment to certain participatory values, including participation in juries.

Islamists Rely on TV Sheiks to Woo Egyptians

Popular Islamic preachers who host shows on religious television channels are helping Salafi Islamists gain sway in Egypt.

Salafi Islamists are gaining sway in Egypt because of TV sheiks like Khaled Abdullah. Mr. Abdullah, a bearded 48-year-old, isn't a real sheik. But he plays one on a popular Egyptian religious satellite station, where he has blasted the secular-leaning opposition as homosexuals and atheists and decried legislation that would ban marital rape.

IRS admits it targeted conservatives

Associated Press

Organizations were singled out because they included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

Obama's Slump Has Nothing to Do With 'Leadership'

Norm Ornstein

"I have been struck by this phenomenon a lot recently, because at nearly every speech I give, someone asks about President Obama's failure to lead. Of course, that question has been driven largely by the media, perhaps most by Bob Woodward. When Woodward speaks, Washington listens, and he has pushed the idea that Obama has failed in his fundamental leadership task -- not building relationships with key congressional leaders the way Bill Clinton did, and not "working his will" the way LBJ or Ronald Reagan did."