NATIONAL

“Hillary Clinton began 2016 with a two-day, six-stop swing across Iowa aimed at locking down her fragile lead over Bernie Sanders in the Feb. 1 caucuses.” – Politico

“President Obama’s executive action to expand gun sale background checks has opened up a legal can of worms, specifically the president’s bid to broaden the definition of who’s a dealer — and therefore must get a license and conduct background checks.” – Fox News

“CNN is reporting confirmation that North Korea has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. Japanese media reported earlier today a major seismic event which the Japanese government strongly suspected was related to a nuclear explosion, and the NORKs confirmed that a nuclear weapons test was the source of the quake.” – Red State

“It would probably be fair to call Henry ‘aimless.’ After he graduated from Harvard, he moved back in with his parents, a boomerang kid straight out of a trend piece about the travails of young adults.” – The Atlantic

“President Obama frequently blames his policy problems on messaging rather than inherent flaws, a new SuperCut shows.” – Free Beacon 

“Matt Lewis has already written the article I’d planned to write for the new year about how the Left and Right have now devolved into identity-politics tribalism. In so doing, they’ve left me a man without a party.” – The Federalist

“Let your mind drift back to a distant, barely remembered past — to the days before Donald Trump seemed capable of wrecking the conservative movement and breaking apart the GOP, before Jeb Bush proved himself to be the Little Candidate Who Couldn’t, before Ted Cruz stopped being hated by just about every member of his party. Yes, there was a time, not quite a year-and-a-half ago, when journalists seriously suggested that the country was entering a “libertarian moment” and wondered whether Rand Paul’s presidential campaign would serve as its vanguard and herald.” – The Week

“To some lefties, Trumpmania is a form of karmic payback for the GOP establishment having spent the past seven years pandering to conservative populists in their hatred of Barack Obama. They nurtured the tea-party monster for their own ends, the theory goes, but now it’s broken out of the lab and transformed into Trumpism, which they can’t control and which might very well end up killing them. If you like that theory, you’ll love the idea of Trump recycling a famously fringy attack on Obama to try to take down Mr. Tea Party himself, Ted Cruz. That could actually work out pretty sweetly for the establishment if Trump uses this to sink the formidable Cruz and then gets steamrolled by Rubio in a one-on-one battle for the nomination, but let’s not sweat the details. If you’re a liberal, you must be enjoying this immensely.” – Hot Air

“Photos of an arena filled to the brim and vast lines of supporters waiting to see GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is ‘absolutely mind-boggling,’ according to a Washington Post reporter.” – The Blaze

“Obama wept.” –Breitbart

LOUISIANA

“Prospective candidate for U.S. Senate from Louisiana, retired Colonel Rob Maness, is calling on Congress to ensure that lawmakers ‘use every resource at their disposal, including the power of the purse, to rein in his lawlessness once and for all.'” – Breitbart

“New Orleans and the surrounding area are under a flood warning, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.” – WDSU.com

“The American Bald Eagle injured December 28 in Morgan City has died. Dr. Javier Nevarez told Cajun Coast Executive Director Carrie Stansbury this morning that the death was likely due to the eagle becoming septic from the trauma suffered.” – KATC.com

“Despite not knowing what’s going to happen, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees made it clear Sunday and again Monday that he wants to finish his career in New Orleans.” – WDSU.com

“Are you an aspiring murderer but afraid that taking someone else’s life might destroy yours? Worried that, if you follow through with killing that person you’ve been really wanting to off, you’d possibly spend most — if not the entirety — of the rest of your life in prison?” – The Red Shtick

“All LSU needed was for Southeastern Conference play to start.” – WWLTV.com

“Governor-elect John Bel Edwards held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to name more cabinet members.” – Fox8Live

“A group of local high school students whose trip to Paris was cut short at the Atlanta airport because of the terrorist attacks are raising money to help get back to Paris.” – KATC.com

“A disturbing reality has set in even before Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards takes the oath of office on Jan. 11. The budget for the current fiscal year is coming up some $1 billion short of what is needed to pay the state’s bills, and the budget for the new year beginning July 1 is short by $1.9 billion.” – American Press

“A Shreveport man is in custody and expected to be questioned by DeSoto sheriff’s detectives after reportedly bailing during a traffic stop in north DeSoto Parish.” – KSLA.com