This week, the 2016 race welcomed Ted Cruz to the GOP scrum after the Texas Senator made his presidential ambitions clear to a literally captive audience of Liberty University students. He's been immediately anointed as a long shot, but is he really?Meanwhile, there are other places in the world besides America. How are things going there, and what does it mean for us? We'll talk about elections in Israel, unrest in Yemen, and -- I hesitate to even say this aloud -- a potentially hopeful turn in Afghanistan, graveyard of empires.Finally, as if you needed something even more surreal and complicated in your lives, we're going to talk about seigniorage, the minting of dollar coins, the minting of platinum coins, the eternally ephemeral nature of the concept of money, and -- strangely enough -- whether or not Europeans are terrible people.

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This week, the GOP released their budget proposals and it's good news if you like massive cuts in discretionary spending and a bloated defense budget. We'll detail the broad strokes of a funding fantasia that probably won't pass and will likely lead to some new apocalyptic showdown.Meanwhile, Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock is resigning his seat, after the public disclosure of his "Downton Abbey" themed office inspired reporters to investigate the numerous ways Schock was spending taxpayer money. But is this the best we can do when it comes to fighting government corruption? Sadly, yes.Finally, Starbucks has decided to take on race relations in America by asking their baristas to lead a national conversation about it. Are they getting paid more? Will the coffee taste better? What is a caramel flan latte, exactly? We have three white dudes on hand to talk about this, so sit back and listen to us make a sad, blundering hash of unformed thoughts and unintended microaggressions out of this topic.

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This week, Iranian leaders got a letter, authored by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and signed by 46 other Republican Senators, in which a clear message was sent. That message? "No one should ever take the United States of America at their word." Why did this have to happen? We're joined by HuffPost national security reporter Jessica Schulberg to figure that out.Meanwhile, letters of an unseen, electronic variety are also in the news this week, as presumptive Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton spoke publicly for the first time about the email flap that's embroiled her nascent campaign. It's one big weird own-goal, and the soccer metaphors do not end there.Finally, someone at the Federal Reserve spilled a secret to wealthy investors. Someone else at the Federal Reserve tried to find out who that was. Then everyone found out that the Federal Reserve was trying to find this out. And Congress would like to know why they've not been apprised about any of this. Will this bolster those who say the...

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This week, let's talk about you. What kind of stuff you like to read on this site, and how do we provide it when Congress takes off a day early to avoid a snow storm? Senior Politics Editor Paige Lavender explains. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court took up a challenge to Obamacare. If you like your health insurance, will you get to keep it? We talked to health care reporter Jeff Young about how nine people in robes could become the Affordable Care Act's final death panel. Finally, you might have heard that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) doesn't know whether President Barack Obama is a Christian, but did you know Walker dealt a major blow to labor unions this week? Labor reporter Dave Jamieson tells us all about it.

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This week, the Republican-led House Agriculture Committee began what they termed as a "top to bottom" review of the federal food stamp program. In a surprising twist, however, the Committee's new management struck a soft and empathetic tone towards a government program they'd previously demonized.Meanwhile, President Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren are teaming up on a plan to bring more security to retirees by making it harder for fly-by-night financial advisors to screw their clients for their own personal gain. But why did dozens of Democrats sign a letter, opposing this idea?Finally, the 2016 invisible primary continues, and the big winner this week, we are told, is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. We'll explain why so many people are telling us that. We'll also remind you that it is February of 2015, because sometimes it seems we forget that.

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This week, the fight over President Barack Obama's immigration policies returns to the halls of Congress, with opponents of the President's executive actions threatening to cease funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Is this a smart idea? Of course not. But we'll talk about it as if it might make sense to someone.Meanwhile, potential Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush went through the ancient campaign ritual of giving a foreign policy philosophy speech, to prove that he cares about foreign policy, and ancient rituals. Did you notice that Jeb Bush has the same last name as another president with a foreign policy? Because this was the week that every political reporter finally noticed this.Finally, Elizabeth Warren has been having what we are told are world-historical chit-chats with people like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. What do these meetings augur? Well, none of us were present at the meetings, so we'll do what media experts...

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This week, America's ongoing battle with ISIS reached a new stage, specifically that stage where the President asks Congress if its okay with them that he started an ongoing battle with ISIS.Meanwhile, closer to home we have governors behaving badly -- Sam Brownback wants gays to experience workplace discrimination. Scott Walker isn't sure he has the guts to talk about middle school science. And have you heard about all the nonsense that brought about the resignation of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber?Finally, famous media people are leaving their famous media jobs. But did they jump, or were they pushed?

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This week, the early stages of the 2016 presidential election collided headlong with the phenomenon of vaccine denialism, with two candidates ending up in intensive care for foot-in-mouth disease. Meanwhile, the Obama budget is out, and from the looks of it, it seems the president wants to swing for the fences on infrastructure. early-childhood care, and increased federal spending. But did he notice that Congress is controlled by the GOP?Finally, this was a big week for Downton Abbey-inspired Congressional interior decoration scandals.

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This week, we learned that President Barack Obama is really upset with our coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. So he's not gonna like what we're about to do, which is talk about the fact that the one part of his agenda Congress might sign on to is the trade deal every liberal hates.Meanwhile, the Koch brothers announced they have budgeted a cool $889 million for the 2016 elections. To put it in perspective, if you stacked $889 million one by one on a table, we would knock you over the head and steal as much as we could.Finally, it's Super Bowl weekend. What time is the Super Bowl? We don't answer that question. But we do talk about all the hilarious goings-on from media week in Arizona.

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This week, President Barack Obama delivered his sixth State Of The Union Address before a joint session of Congress now completely controlled by his opposition. In that speech, the most newsworthy moment came when the President urged a focus on what he called "middle-class economics." The quick, hot take was that by doing so, Obama was opening a new round of combat with Republicans. Finally, once the pageantry of the State Of The Union had faded, Congress returned to their typical State Of Disarray.

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