HEADLINES

1. Newt Gingrich: A man out of time?

   By almost any account, former House speaker Newt Gingrich has had a bad week — and it's only Tuesday.
   » Read full article

2. Lawmakers call for HUD probe

   A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers is calling on Congress to probe the nation's housing-construction program for the poor.
   » Read full article

3. The Fix: Paul Ryan not running for Senate

   Despite Rep. Paul Ryan's name immediately coming up in discussions about the seat being vacated by Sen. Herb Kohl (D), the Wisconsin representative said he will not run for U.S. Senate.
   » Read full article

4. 44: Obama tosses wrench in Republican campaign plans

   Obama has complicated the race for several potential Republican candidates in several ways, such as by releasing his long-form birth certificate and attacking Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare plan.
   » Read full article

5. Federal Eye: Postal Service again threatens to not pay retiree benefits

   The U.S. Postal Service is once again threatening to not pay roughly $5.4 billion in retiree health benefits this fall because it cannot afford to do so.
   » Read full article

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

Former New York Rep. Tom Reynolds commenting on the potential problems former House speaker Newt Gingrich might have on the campaign trail:

"Newt when Speaker was known to be undisciplined in media relations. ... Newt will step on and be knocked off his message more times by his actions than by others."

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COMMENT OF THE DAY

CarolynHaxFan, on Krissah Thompson's "Messy marital histories in the campaign spotlight" story:

Like it or not, how you handle your private affairs and outside temptations is a very good indicator of how you will handle public ones. I think the focus on politicians' marriages is fair, especially when they attempt to infuse the word "morals" into every speech.

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Q&A DISCUSSIONS

Columnist Eugene Robinson was online at 1 p.m. ET to discuss his recent columns and recent news:

Q: Do you think the paucity of candidates is due to not enough people with potential, or are some holding back because they don't want to run against Obama. I get the sense that its the latter, although no one would ever say so.

Eugene Robinson:

I think it's clear that some candidate who might otherwise be tempted to run have decided that Obama's probably going to be tough to beat. Look at somebody like NJ Gov. Chris Christie. People are clamoring for him to get into the race, but he has to figure that he'll get no more than one shot as the party's candidate. He's young enough to wait comfortably until 2016, when there will be no incumbent. Why not take his shot then, as opposed to now, when the odds don't look so great?

» View full Q&A session

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MULTIMEDIA

Video: Mideast peace 'more vital than ever'

President Barack Obama says it's "more vital than ever" for Israel and the Palestinians to restart peace talks. The president says the U.S. has an enormous stake in the outcome and will continue to try to find an "equitable and just" solution.