Bachmann tweeted:

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According to a report by CBS News in July, the then-33 unsuccessful attempts by House Republicans to repeal the law had used up around 80 hours of time in Congress, or two full work weeks, at a cost of around $48 million.

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According to the AP, DeGette introduced the bill with Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., whose husband was killed in a 1993 mass shooting on the Long Island Rail Road in New York. From the AP:

[DeGette]'s district includes the site of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. It is also adjacent to last year's Aurora movie theater shooting site. In both of those attacks, the shooters' rifles were modified with high-capacity magazines. Those devices allow attackers to fire dozens of bullets without pausing to reload.

Though it's still unclear whether a ban can pass the Republican-controlled House, there were some promising signs from at least one Republican earlier today.

Rep. Peter King, also from New York, said on "Morning Joe": "I voted for the assault weapon ban back in 1994. My father was a police officer. I really don't know why people need assault weapons."

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There were, however, a total of 14 defections from both Boehner, and Nancy Pelosi, who got 192 votes.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Va., got three votes. Reps. Louie Gohmert, Texas, and Paul Broun, Ga., both cast votes for ousted Rep. Allen West, Fla.

Tim Huelskamp, Kan., one of the four conservatives Boehner ousted from his committee spot, cast a vote for Jim Jordan, Ohio. Dave Schweikert, Ariz., another one of those conservatives, did support Boehner.

Both Michael Grimm and Peter King of New York, who had been at odds with Boehner over Hurricane Sandy relief funding, both voted for the speaker to keep his seat.

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In a statement Thursday, NOM said it will form a PAC in Illinois and spend $250,000 to oust any Republicans who support gay marriage. The statement also called on Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady to resign "for violating the national GOP platform and urging state Republicans to redefine marriage."

“Any Republican in Illinois who betrays the cause of marriage will be casting a career-ending vote and will be held accountable to their constituents,” Brian Brown, NOM’s president, said in a statement. “We will spend whatever it takes – hundreds of thousands of dollars if necessary – to remove them from office, just as we did three of the four turncoat Republican state Senators in New York who were responsible for gay ‘marriage’ passing there."

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Boehner has been hearing it from both flanks of his caucus, with 151 members of his own party voting against the "fiscal cliff" deal, and Republican New York Reps. Peter King and Michael Grimm expressing outrage that Republican leadership failed to call a vote over Hurricane Sandy relief aid.

The Hill reported this morning:

Boehner could also face opposition from the four Republicans punished this month for bucking leadership. Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Tim Huelskamp (Kan.), Walter Jones (N.C.) and Dave Schweikert (Ariz.) were all stripped of their committee posts by the Boehner-led GOP Steering Committee, and they've been grumbling ever since.

There has been speculation that 17 Republicans could join forces and deny Boehner the majority he needs to become Speaker. House rules dictate that a lawmaker must receive a majority of the votes in order to get the Speaker's gavel. Republican lawmakers, including one who is not fond of Boehner, said no such effort is under way.

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Nick Carey of Reuters reports that in the Senate, Tea Party groups are eyeing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., Saxby Chambliss, Ga., Lindsey Graham, S.C., and Lamar Alexander, Tenn., all of whom are up for reelection in 2014.

"Many people here have watched Mitch McConnell's voting record and are dissatisfied with what they've seen," Eric Wilson, executive director of the Tea Party group the Kentucky 9/12 Project, told Reuters. "There are some potential candidates working in the background and doing the right thing."

"If a credible candidate comes forward, then Saxby Chambliss is in major trouble," said Debbie Dooley, a founder of the Atlanta Tea Party.

"I am over 90 percent certain that if there is a reliably conservative candidate in 2014 he will have my total support," Joe Dugan of the Myrtle Beach Tea Party in South Carolina also told Reuters.

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In Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reports, state Rep. Arthur Handy says he will introduce a bill in the General Assembly on Thursday, the first day of the 2013 session.

From the Journal:

Handy has said that the legislation will include, as it has in past versions, language granting religious groups protections, if they object to same sex unions as a matter of their religious beliefs.

Citing the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, a 2011 version of Handy's gay marriage bill stated that every religious institution has "exclusive control over its own religious doctrine, policy, and teachings regarding who may marry within their faith, and on what terms."

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Christie was referring to a $60 billion funding package that would have gone to Hurricane relief efforts, which Republican leadership failed to bring to a vote before adjourning last night. "Last night politics was placed before our  oath to our citizens," Christie said. "For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."

He added that Sandy victims in New York and New Jersey have had to wait six times longer for federal disaster relief funding than victims of Hurricane Katrina, which Christie said shows a "callous indifference to the suffering of people in my state." The bill, which passed out of the Senate, "just could not overcome the toxic internal politics of the House majority," Christie said.

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On Wednesday, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., excoriated John Boehner and House Republicans, calling it "absolutely disgraceful" and saying that "my world turned upside down last night."

"People in my party, they wonder why they're becoming a minority party," King said on CNN. "They're writing off New York, they're writing off New Jersey. Well, they've written me off, and they're gonna have a hard time getting my vote, I can tell you that."

King added that "anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee should have their head examined."

Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., said he was "utterly devastated" by the decision, and called it "beyond surprising" that the House adjourned without a vote. He said it was ultimately House Speaker John Boehner's call to adjourn without a vote, and that he had received signals from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor that the vote would happen.

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In the House, 172 Democrats voted for the bill, with 16 who opposed it. Of the 16, nine lean more liberal, including Rep. Peter DeFazio, Ore., who explained:

While the Senate plan included an extension of unemployment insurance that will save benefits for over 29,000 Oregonians and an essential ‘doc-fix’ that will continue payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, this ‘deal’ hinders our ability to deal meaningfully with the deficit and burgeoning debt and puts in jeopardy Social Security and Medicare in the coming confrontation over the debt limit.

Jim Moran, Va., also more liberal, argued that the bill just paves the way for three more showdowns over the budget:

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The plan that passed will raise $620 billion in revenue over 10 years and pay down the sequester for two months. It only got 85 votes from House Republicans, with 151 voting against it. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was one of the more notable yes votes, though House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., both voted against it.

And though the deal pulls the country back from painful fiscal cliff cuts, it's only temporary. The sequester is paid down for two months, not-so-coincidentally timed with when the government will reach its spending limit and Congress will have to vote to raise the debt ceiling.

From the AP:

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CBS News reports that Jean Becker wrote an email to Bush's family and friends, saying that he will be hospitalized for "a while."

"He is 88 years old, he had a terrible case of bronchitis which then triggered a series of complications, partially brought on by the fact that he also has a form of Parkinson's disease," Becker said.

"Is he sick? Yes. Does he plan on going anywhere soon? No. He has every intention of staying put," Becker added. "He would ask me to tell you to please put the harps back in the closet."

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Nouel Alba was arrested and arraigned in a Hartford court on Thursday, on charges that she lied to federal agents about an alleged fraud scheme connected to the shootings.

From NBC Connecticut:

Last week, NBC’s Jeff Rossen reported that Alba posted a solicitation on Facebook within hours of the shooting, identifying herself as an aunt of Noah Pozner, a 6-year-old victim.

Later, as families were grieving and the nation was looking for any and every way to help the victims’ families, she asked for funds to pay for the funeral, Rossen reported.

At Alba's instruction on the Facebook page "Victorian Glam Fairys," donors sent money to a PayPal account that Alba controlled and accessed, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Keene, appearing on CNN, said that he thinks questions about whether or not Gregory broke the law for possessing the magazine, which is illegal in D.C., demonstrate the "craziness" of those gun laws.

"There are two lessons for him there," Keene said. "One, don't ask the government what's legal and what isn't legal because half the people you ask don't know. And secondly, that's a silly felony. It's a felony in Washington, D.C., to own that magazine or to be caught with a cartridge. So I really think what David Gregory did, while he was inadvertently flouting the law, was illustrated in a very graphic way, perhaps not intentionally, but in a graphic way just how silly some of these laws are."

Watch:

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Hagel's comments, which he apologized for last week, were related to James Hormel, who in 1998 was being considered for a diplomatic position. “They are representing America,” Hagel said of ambassadors. “They are representing our lifestyle, our values, our standards. And I think it is an inhibiting factor to be gay — openly aggressively gay like Mr. Hormel — to do an effective job.”

"Chuck Hagel: Wrong on gay rights. Wrong on Iran. Wrong on Israel," the Log Cabin Republican ad says. "Tell President Obama that Chuck Hagel is wrong for Defense Secretary."

The ad also reflects criticism that Hagel is not a big enough supporter of Israel, and is not tough enough on Iran.

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"Everyone knows, including the speaker of the House of Represenatives today, that if they had brought up the Senate-passed bill that would give relief to everyone making less than $250,000 a year, it would pass overwhelmingly," Reid said. "Every Democrat would vote for it, Republicans would vote for it. But the speaker, he says, 'No, we can't do that.' It has to be a majority of the majority. So they've done nothing."

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The Post reports that Crapo, a Mormon who has said that he abstains from alcohol, was pulled over after making a left turn on a red light in Alexandria, Va.

From the Post:

“When I spoke with the driver I immediately detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath, which became stronger as he spoke,” the arresting officer wrote.

Crapo said he drank the vodka hours earlier, and hadn’t had anything to drink since, documents show.

Crapo failed a field sobriety test and agreed to take a breath test, which resulted in a level of .11, exceeding Virginia’s legal limit of .08, according to the documents.

Crapo's court date is set for January 4.

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CBS News reports:

The Utah Shooting Sports Council said it would waive its $50 fee for concealed-weapons training for the teachers. Instruction featuring plastic guns was to start Thursday inside a conference room at Maverick Center, a hockey arena in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley.

It's an idea gaining traction in the aftermath of the Connecticut school shooting.

In Ohio, the Buckeye Firearms Association said it was launching a test program in tactical firearms training for 24 teachers initially.

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From the Tulsa World:

Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, said his Senate Bill 23 is based on a bill that was passed by Alabama lawmakers last year and is aimed in part at cutting off state support for the groups pushing limits on property owner rights.

As a farmer, Anderson said he is concerned about the federal government -- pushed by the U.N.'s agenda of sustainability --forcing rules on a wide variety of things, including the creation of dust and how land can be used.

"There's a place for all that, but we also need to make sure we're not infringing on the property owners' rights to use their own land," Anderson said.

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The picture was taken while they were campaigning in Iowa, Barack Obama said. Michelle Obama added: "Also, I hadn’t seen him in a while. You know, when you're campaigning, they have, we're two ships passing in the night, and the first time I saw him was when I walked on stage to greet him. And that’s my honey giving me a hug."

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