Drug addiction in mothers is leading to a sharp and alarming rise in babies born addicted to drugs in the US.  The addictions are almost always to powerful opiates like Oxycontin and Vicodin, which are legal, similar to heroin, and sometimes sneeringly referred to as “hillbilly heroin.”  But the drug addiction is happening everywhere in the country, not just in rural south, even if the epidemic is worse there.

Today's News Tips for your lunch break. Your Independent Breakdown of Today's News.

POLITICO – Lance Armstrong Getting Help from Capitol Hill

The 7-time Tour de France champion has passed over 500 drug tests and could “be in the unenviable position of carrying the burden to rebut testimony from witnesses he cannot even cross examine.” – Rep. Sensenbrenner

File this under the oldie but goodie section. Found this graph presented by Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado to the 112th Congress. The Democratic Senator was kind enough to present this to the Republican controlled House. Yes, Congress' approval rating is higher than Castro, but is getting smoked by the IRS, the BP oil spill, and Nixon during watergate.

Curious about what the governors will discuss at this weekend's annual NGA meeting?

"Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D), vice chairman of the NGA, will join the Fix’s Aaron Blake for a Google+ Hangout on Friday at 1 p.m. to talk about what the governors will try to accomplish this weekend."

The elder former President Bush and his wife recently sat down for an interview with Parade magazine. Here's what he had to say about Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform pledge:

"The rigidity of those pledges is something I don’t like. The circumstances change and you can’t be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It’s—who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway?"

(h/t Think Progress)

A glut of emissions allowances in Europe has made coal the continent's most profitable electric power fuel.

For those of you who are superstitious, Friday the 13th is not your lucky day. As for business owners, studies suggest a total loss of $800 million in productivity in the United States on today's date.