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February 07, 2012 | | 2012 The gloves are off: President Obama has reportedly signaled to top aides that they should encourage Democratic donors to donate to Priorities USA Action, the party’s leading super PAC. These latest signals from the White House reverse Obama’s previous position on super PACs, which can take unlimited contributions. But it’s a decision the president likely felt pressured to make by the aggressive fundraising of similar Republican groups. “We’re not going to fight this with one hand tied behind our back,” Jim Messina, manager for Obama’s reelection campaign, told The New York Times. EXCLUSIVE It is anyone's guess how negotiations might proceed with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, who inherited power from his late father in December. Communicating at all has often required a bizarre and unofficial form of diplomacy and intelligence gathering. The Daily Beast’s Aram Roston and Tara McKelvey report on the unexpected informal envoy sometimes used by the Bush administration: a 66-year-old businessman, chairman of the Washington Times newspaper, and a high-ranking associate of the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. ASSAULT Russia’s foreign minister got a warm welcome in Syria, where thousands of President Bashar al-Assad’s supporters lined the streets and cheered his motorcade. Russia, along with China, recently vetoed a U.N. resolution condemning Assad’s crackdown on his opposition. That crackdown continued today. Assad’s forces resumed shelling the rebel stronghold of Homs, where at least 95 people were killed yesterday, according to activists. Residents fear a ground assault on the town may come soon. PORK Having a congressman in your neighborhood may make property values go up. More than $300 million in taxpayer money has gone to projects within two miles of property owned by 33 members of Congress, according to a Washington Post investigation. In Tuscaloosa, Ala., $100 million went to projects near a senator’s offices. Nearly $500,000 went to a bike lane near a Michigan representative’s residence. The earmarks are legal under congressional ethics rules, and last week the Senate struck down a bill that would have outlawed earmarks. Lawmakers defended the earmarks by saying their constituents benefited from the projects. SHOCKING This story could not get any worse. Police now say that Charles and Braden Powell, the two young boys who were killed when their father intentionally set off an explosion in his house, were killed by "chops to the neck" and carbon-monoxide poisoning. The weapon used was either a hatchet or small ax. The boys reportedly had recently just begun to talk about the night their mother went missing, their grandparents’ attorney said on Monday. “The oldest boy talked about that they went camping and that Mommy was in the trunk. Mom and Dad got out of the car and Mom disappeared,” Steve Downing told the Associated Press. Susan Powell has been missing since 2009. | | 
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