FROM THE BLOGS:

With Scott Brown out, Massachusetts Republicans are getting desperate
New York Magazine's Margaret Hartmann says Republicans are trying to cast a broader net for the Republican nominee for Massachusetts Senator after Scott Brown bowed out.

In defense of political anger
The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses how former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) helped his cause by not engaging in back and forth during his confirmation hearing.

Is it time to get rid of the EPA?
The Daily Caller's Henry Miller argues the EPA has been an ineffective and burdening government agency.

Thank God for American Crossroads and the Conservative Victory Project
Red State's Erick Erickson celebrates Karl Rove's decision to change what type of primary candidates his super PACs support.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Ryan hits Obama for blowing past deadline for 2014 budget
The 2012 Vice-Presidential nominee criticizes the President for not submitting his budget to Congress on time, The Hill's Erik Wasson reports.

Kerry begins State Department tenure with pledge to fill Clinton's 'big heels'
The Hill's Julian Pecquet reports on Secretary of State John Kerry's address to State Department employees to mark the beginning of his new role in government.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The Senate-hearing circus is in session

Matthew Duss recaps yesterday's tumultuous confirmation hearing for former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) in The American Prospect. 

Is it getting better? Homophobia rocks super bowl
The Nation's Dave Zirin discusses the comments made about members of the LGBT community by certain San Francisco 49ers players.



Fleeing Harry Reid's Senate
Jennifer Rubin writes in The Washington Post why she believes more Democratic senators will retire and join the private sector.



Obama administration retreating on HHS contraception mandate?
Hot Air's Ed Morrissey on the Obama administration's decision to exclude certain religiously affiliated organizations from the HHS contraception mandate.



OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Economy adds 157,000 jobs, unemployment ticks up to 7.9 percent
The Hill's Vicki Needham reports on the January jobs report numbers.



Steven Chu stepping down as Obama's energy secretary
The Hill's Ben Geman reports on why the Noble Prize-winning scientist decided to not stay for a second term in the Obama administration.



FROM THE BLOGS:

Hagel's experience as a grunt
At War's Don Gomez wonders if Chuck Hagel's experience as a sergeant in Vietnam gives him enough experience to lead the Pentagon.

NRA loses congressional supporter
Huffington Post's Chelsea Klene reports former Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.) is backing away from the NRA and is supporting President Obama's gun-control proposals.

GOP gets Tech-savvy 
Red State's Ned Ryun says conservatives are giving themselves a more technologically competitive edge to muster votes in 2014.

A big thank you to Israel
According to the New York Post's editorial board, the White House owes Israel a big thank you for their air strike in Syria this morning.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Chuck Hagel comes under fire at hearing
Former colleagues of Sen. Hagel demand answers to tough questios on the former Senator's past votes and remarks, The Hill's Jeremy Herb reports.

House GOP want answers
House Republicans are drafting a bill that will force President Obama to estimate when federal budget will be balanced, The Hill's Pete Kasperowicz reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

GDP falls in the fourth quarter
The Daily Beast's Megan McArdle discusses the surprising news that, for the first time since 2009, the national GDP contracted.

Why it won't be Barney Frank
Steve Kornacki of Salon.com explains why Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) won't (and actually didn't) pick former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to serve in the Senate on an interim basis.

Will the foreign policy version of "fast & furious" ever end?
The Washington Monthly's Ed Kilgore compares Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) intense focus on the attacks in Benghazi to the focus on DOJ's Operation Fast and Furious in the House.

Valentines for Hagel were posted from Tehran
Kenneth R. Timmermanin The Washington Times writes how the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to be secretary of Defense sends the wrong message to Iran.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Giffords to panel: 'You must act'
The Hill's Mike Lillis reports on ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's (D-Ariz.) emotional testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of new gun control measures.

Sen. Cochran becomes first Republican to back Hagel to lead Pentagon
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) supports Hagel's nomination for secretary of Defense, The Hill's Jeremy Herb reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

A second GOP
David Brooks argues in The New York Times that the answer to the GOP’s approval problems is the creation of a new wing of the Republican Party.

Obama vs. Fox News – behind the White House strategy to delegitimize a news organization
Fox News’s Kirsten Powers looks into the president’s tendency to stay away from right-leaning media, and his potential relation to a group trying to eliminate Fox News entirely.

Democrats and Republicans reignite fight over VAWA
The Daily Beast’s Michelle Cottle examines the concept that Republicans aren’t working hard enough to move legislation that addresses new facets of violence against women.

Remember Obama’s tax hikes on the rich to pay debt? He’s already spent every penny
Andrew Malcolm of IBD Editorials details what he deems the president’s misuse of new taxes on disaster relief funds.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Rubio makes sales pitch on immigration to conservative media
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) makes the media rounds to sell the Senate’s proposed immigration plan, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.

Villaraigosa, Granholm on long list of rumored successors to LaHood
Speculation begins as to who will replace the outgoing Transportation secretary, and the names of a few touted Democrats and Republicans are already cropping up, The Hill’s Keith Laing reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Catering to both sides on immigration reform
The Plum Line's Greg Sargent asks why the current $18 billion border security budget is not enough.

Sandy Relief Bill still gets 'no' votes in the Senate
ThinkProgress's Josh Israel breaks down 31 senators who voted 'no' to a Hurricane Sandy relief bill after requesting disaster relief for their own states.

Gang of Eight's immigration reform remains questionable
The Daily Caller's Mickey Kaus says "Washington fakery" is at work regarding amnesty in the new Senate proposals for 11 million illegal immigrants.

A fond farewell
"I did not belong at CNN," Erick Erickson said as he bid goodbye to three years at CNN.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES

NRA chief to call for arming schools
Wayne LaPierre, the vice president of the National Rifle Association, will call for strengthening current gun laws and mental health care at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, The Hill's Mike Lillis reports.

Sen. Graham to withhold Hagel nomination
Until Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta testifies on the Benghazi attack, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is threatening to block former Sen. Chuck Hagel's (R-Neb.) nomination to succeed the outgoing Defense secretary, according to The Hill's Jeremy Herb.

FROM THE BLOGS:

National media focus on small gun-control protest, miss massive March for Life
Hot Air commentator Ed Morrissey asks why national news groups ignored a large anti-abortion march in favor of a smaller gun-control protest.

The GOP plan: Go left on immigration, right on everything else
Jonathan Chait dicusses for Daily Intelligencer the pitfalls and realities behind the GOP’s new message to voters.

Why this gun-control debate has been different
Wonkblog’s Danny Hayes explores the reasons why this time around, gun control has yet to fade from headlines.

Debate challenge to Jonathan Gruber and any other ObamaCare supporter
Cato’s Michael Cannon challenges ObamaCare supporters to a debate on the powers Congress grants states under ObamaCare and his interpretation of the law.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

House GOP cautious on Senate’s bipartisan immigration blueprint
Leading House Republicans are taking their time before giving opinions on what is widely seen as breakthrough legislation on the issue, The Hill's Russell Berman reports.

Oil firms, governors urge DOE to expand natural-gas exports
Corporate and governmental groups are joining together to advocate loosened restrictions on natural gas, The Hill's Zack Colman reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:


World's leaders aren't doing their jobs
CNN contributor David Frum thinks the first step to obtaining a secure global financial system is for participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos to admit that they screwed up.

Moving beyond Roe: How can we find our way out of the desert?
National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez writes on how the anti-abortion-rights movement can refashion itself.

The Senate immigration plan isn't terrible — it's just unworkable
Adam Serwer of Mother Jones writes that the Senate's "gang of eight" immigration proposal is too vague to properly implement.


The 'fiscal cliff' bill is not what it seems
Lynn Forester de Rothschild outlines in the Huffington Post how many earmarks were included in the "fiscal cliff" bill.  

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Boehner pledge to committee chairmen could cause logistical problems
Speaker John Boehner's promise to give committee chairmen more power will allow members to have more input on policies going forward, though possibly at the expense of influence from Republican leadership, The Hill's Molly K. Hooper reports.



Rep. Markey's mettle to be tested in Massachusetts Senate special election
Rep. Edward Markey (D) will have to show good campaigning skills and acumen if he hopes to defeat Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) in the Democratic primary to become the next senator from Massachusetts, The Hill's Alexandra Jaffe reports. 



FROM THE BLOGS:

Ineffective on the inequality gap
The New York Times’s David Brooks argues that Democratic policies will not help solve the inequality gap they’re intended to fix.

Bobby Jindal on minorities and the GOP
The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart agreed with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R) call for Republicans to change their policies toward ethnic and cultural minorities. 

Common core standards ignore English and history
Michelle Malkin writes in Townhall how federal "common core" education standards have deemphasized the value of studying English and history.

No love lost for Geithner
Wonkette’s Rebecca Schoenkopf says goodbye and good riddance to outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on his last day.


OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama recess appointments to labor board ruled unconstitutional
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board are unconstitutional, The Hill’s Kevin Bogardus reports.

McDonough named new White House chief of staff
President Obama today named Denis McDonough to replace outgoing Chief of Staff Jack Lew amid a larger West Wing personnel shakeup, according to The Hill’s Amie Parnes.