By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution

Does the secretary of agriculture need unlimited power over farmers to protect them against themselves? The Supreme Court might finally settle this issue in an imminent decision on one of USDA's most bizarre regimes.

"It is plainly true that in our society blacks have suffered discrimination immeasurably greater than any directed at other racial groups."

The Supreme Court is trying to sort out a wrenching adoption case involving a American Indian child, a biological father who first renounced any interest in her, and adoptive parents who eventually were ordered to hand her over to the father.

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett on Wednesday disputed the notion that the President Obama operates a tight-knit boys' club of top advisers and aides and bemoaned the hardball politics of Washington, D.C., saying Chicago politics are "child's play" in comparison.

Decades of civil-rights law hung in the balance Wednesday as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case seeking to end the federal government's role as arbiter of states' decisions on how to run elections, with one conservative justice saying the role perpetuated "racial entitlement."

Sonia Sotomayor appeared on "The Colbert Report" Monday night to talk about her new memoir, "My Beloved World," but she stumbled upon an interesting confession in the process: She claims to be an independent.

In comparison to Sen. John Kerry’s bloodless confirmation, Chuck Hagel’s blistering interrogation last week was a massacre by question mark. He seemed utterly unprepared for even the most predictable inquiries regarding his controversial record, apparently lulled into a false confidence by the Senate’s lazy complacency when Mr. Kerry took his turn under the Klieg lights.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden's choice of Supreme Court justice to swear him into office — Justice Sonia Sotomayor — has fueled rumors of a 2016 presidential run, as analysts guess he was subtly courting the Hispanic vote.
Latinos are taking a more prominent role in President Barack Obama's second inauguration, from the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice swearing in the vice president to a star-studded concert celebrating Latino culture.

Tradition, faith and revelry mark a city's celebration of the president's second inauguration, as chronicled by Washington Times reporters in real time throughout the day.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden was officially sworn in to a second term of office Sunday morning at a small ceremony at the Naval Observatory, hours ahead of President Obama's expected inauguration in a similar ceremony at the White House.
Latinos are taking a more prominent role in President Barack Obama's second inauguration, from the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice swearing in the vice president to a star-studded concert celebrating Latino culture.
An attorney for Hobby Lobby Stores said Thursday that the arts-and-crafts chain plans to defy a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill, despite risking potential fines of up to $1.3 million per day.
The Treasury Department will begin taking steps this week to delay hitting the government's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit. Without doing so, the debt limit would be hit on Dec. 31.

The former leader of a tea party group says the Republican Party and stupid statements by some candidates are to blame for GOP losses in last month's congressional elections.
"I can't imagine getting a patent simply on the basic items of salt, flour and eggs, simply because I've created a new use or a new product from those ingredients," she said.
Supreme Court considers whether human genes can be patented →
For example, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said if a new way was found to extract the ingredients of a cookie, a company still wouldn't be able to patent flour, eggs or salt.
Supreme Court considers whether human genes can be patented →