A new poll finds that a third-party bid by presidential hopeful Ron Paul would help re-elect president Obama, but not before taking away 9% of the President's independent support and 17% of independent voters from Romney. In a separate poll, Paul was found to be competitive against Obama in a head-to-head contest as the GOP nominee.

The United States is facing a trillion dollar plus deficit. The only way to solve it is to reduce spending and/or increase tax revenues. In the current political environment, raising taxes has zero chance of approval. But there is another way to raise revenues – collect the taxes that are owed.

"Energy Security needs to be one of the first things we think about, before we deploy another soldier, before we build another ship or plane, and before we buy or fill another rucksack"

-- Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Michael Mullen

What do the wine and tomato industries have in common? Besides the fact that they both play a major role in California agriculture, both could potentially be courted by cigarette manufacturers looking to market a safer, more “green” product. Here's why:

Americans say they're tired of the partisanship and bickering in Washington, and political leaders are always promising-- though never seeming to deliver-- a new level of discourse with each new White House administration or party majority in Congress.

In Virginia, the Republican presidential primary is officially a two person race. Only two candidates for the Republican presidential nomination will appear on Virginia's primary ballot in March: Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. On Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion filed by Rick Perry seeking an injunction that would have ordered the Virginia Board of Elections to allow his name to appear on the state's primary ballot.

Whoever the GOP candidate is will have to show that he’s not just about the base but they’re for the large audience. It’s about America. It’s about getting our country on track, not about catering to the base.

Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto, a senior fellow at the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy in Potomac, Md. 

ABC

The Sierras have had practically no snow this year. Lake Tahoe, which relies on skiing for income, has no ski areas operating at full capacity. Some only have 30% of their lifts open. Last year, they had 50 feet of snow in some places. The Sierra Nevada is at a mere 14% of normal snowpack. The southern California Metropolitan Water District (MWD) says this could be the driest year on record.

In a major milestone for advocates of marijuana legalization, The Journal of the American Medical Association has published the results of a study which found that casual marijuana use does not harm lung function.

Controversial anti-piracy legislation in Congress has recently hit a snag, one that can largely be attributed to the internet community’s intense activism. California Congressman Darrell Issa, the House’s Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair, announced Saturday the postponement of a hearing about some of the most contested portions of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).