Politics/elections

The Vermont senator says entitlement programs must stay off the table in the next round of budget negotiations.

Beleaguered Tennessee Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R) says he plans to run again in 2014, but may find it difficult to raise funds after damaging details surrounding his past affairs became public.

In protest of President Obama's healthcare law, a Florida restaurant owner plans to charge his customers a 5 percent fee.

John Metz, who owns a chain of Denny's and Dairy Queen locations in Florida, told The Huffington Post he'll be adding a 5 percent "ObamaCare surcharge" to every bill. If customers don't like it, he said, they can leave a smaller tip.

"If I leave the prices the same, but say on the menu that there is a 5 percent surcharge for ObamaCare, customers have two choices. They can either pay it and tip 15 or 20 percent, or if they really feel so inclined, they can reduce the amount of tip they give to the server, who is the primary beneficiary of ObamaCare," Metz said.

But Metz is also cutting his employees' hours so that he won't have to provide them with healthcare benefits — meaning he won't be paying the additional healthcare costs the fee is intended to cover. (Metz already provides health benefits to some full-time employees.)

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), a staunch conservative and a doctor, said Thursday there’s no real point in another House vote on repealing President Obama’s healthcare law, but he said Republicans will still target specific provisions.

Gingrey, a co-chair of the House GOP Doctors Caucus, said Republicans are beginning to recognize that the healthcare law — formally knows as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — isn’t going anywhere with Obama still in the White House.

“It would be pointless, in my opinion, to have a vote on repeal of PPACA, but we know enough egregious aspects of the law that can and should be repealed, and very likely — well, somewhat likely, I should say, in a bipartisan effort,” Gingrey told reporters Thursday.

“We have got to stop dividing the American voters,” the Louisiana governor said to GOP donors of Romney's remarks.

Mitt Romney suggested Wednesday that President Obama won a second term largely because of policies in his healthcare law.

In comments to a group of donors, Romney said he lost in part because of the "gifts" Obama had given to certain demographic groups — and a lot of the specific gifts he mentioned came in the form of healthcare benefits.

“You can imagine for somebody making $25,000 or $30,000 or $35,000 a year, being told you’re now going to get free health care, particularly if you don’t have it, getting free health care worth, what, $10,000 per family, in perpetuity, I mean, this is huge. Likewise with Hispanic voters, free health care was a big plus," Romney said, according to the New York Times.

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Groups backing female candidates are grappling with a major concern heading into 2014: that the women's issues they believe drove many voters to the polls this election cycle may not be as central in a midterm election.

A new poll finds 33 percent support repealing the law, the lowest level since it was signed into law.

Planned Parenthood trounced other groups with a near perfect return on its election spending, according to a new numbers review.

Election-night victory cements Obama’s first-term legislative legacy.

Massachusetts pharmacy board head fired after meningitis outbreak.

Marijuana legalization victories could be short-lived.

Los Angeles County voters mandate condom use on porn sets.