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All large classes elected to Congress want to change Washington. The Tea Party has found that there are all kinds of tripwires built into the American system of checks and balances that prevent newcomers from quickly remaking the political culture into their own image.

The United States is on track to install a record number of solar power systems — thanks in large part to low-cost solar panels from China. U.S. officials have imposed trade tariffs on Chinese panels, but a trade war with China could put U.S. solar jobs at risk.

State Department officials, testifying before Congress, acknowledge that security was inadequate in Benghazi before the deadly attacks in Libya. Sen. John Kerry, who was chairman of the Senate hearing, says the diplomatic corps needs more resources.

A number of conservative groups are vowing consequences for Republicans who line up behind House Speaker John Boehner and his plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff." Fiscal conservatives say that how GOP members vote now could set the stage for the 2014 primary season.

NRA leaders say that when they break their silence on the Sandy Hook shootings Friday, they will be speaking for the group's 4 million members. But they will also be speaking for the gun industry, which has close financial links to the association.

Russian lawmakers are trying to bar Americans from adopting Russian children. It's meant as retaliation against unfavorable U.S. legislation, but opponents of the ban say it treats Russian children as pawns in a political game.

As the parties wrangle over taxes and the "fiscal cliff," there's been a lot of talk about the golden days of the 1990s — and each party's role in creating it. Yet economists say a lot was happening outside Washington as well.

The Federal Reserve continued to keep its foot on the accelerator in 2012, using unusual tactics to try to boost economic growth. But economists disagree about whether the Fed's policies were effective or whether the inflation risks outweighed the rewards.

In the last election, the red states got redder and the blue ones bluer. That's true not only in presidential voting, but at the state level, where half the legislative chambers are now dominated by supermajorities of one party or the other. The result is that blue and red states are moving further apart on most major issues, including tax policy, abortion and guns.

The film actor is moving to neighboring Belgium to avoid a new 75 percent tax on the superwealthy. This has touched off a war of words with the prime minister, and the public seems deeply divided.