• Analysis: Obama has stopped trying to win over white conservatives
  National Journal (2/4)     

• This week's poll: Haggling over Hagel
  On paper, President Barack Obama's nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as Defense secretary looked like a safe choice. Hagel, a Republican, was expected to win support from his party, and senators traditionally give their present and former colleagues a speedy review and confirmation. Not so, as last week's heated exchanges before the Senate Armed Services Committee showed. This week's question: Is Chuck Hagel the right choice for secretary of Defense? If you care to share your thoughts on the nomination, you can send them to us using this link. Choose "Content Feedback" as the category.

Yes

No

Neutral/no opinion

None of the above/other

• Closing tax loopholes could be key to budget deal, Obama says
  CBS News/Political Eye blog (2/3)     

• Wall Street donors could turn their backs on the GOP in 2014
  Politico (Washington, D.C.) (2/4)     

• Firms tap unregistered lobbyists for "shadow advocacy" work
  Roll Call (free content) (2/3)     

• Editorial: Political deadlock could cost the U.S. a million jobs
  The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/3)     

• Columnist Gordon Crovitz: Immigration fix would bring $100B in new revenues
  The Wall Street Journal (2/3)     

• Columnist Emily Miller: The problem with Obama's corporate-jet tax
  The Washington Times (2/4)     

• Photo finish? Not for "skeetgate"
  The White House released a photo last week of the president shooting clay pigeons -- but that wasn't enough to satisfy the skeet truthers. Doubters are questioning the photo's veracity, arguing that the president's shotgun was being held at the wrong angle; that the smoke from his gun "looks funny"; and that he was wearing the wrong pants. New York magazine (2/3)     

Top five news stories selected by SmartBrief on Business & Politics readers in the past week.

• Online "dot map" shows every U.S. and Canadian resident (CNN)

• Should smokers' jobs be targeted to reduce health care costs? (SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership)

• "Gang of Eight" unveils Senate immigration plan (The New York Times (tiered subscription model))

• Professor John Yoo: How Obama has weakened the presidency (The Wall Street Journal)

• Attack of the skeet truthers (Comedy Central)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

I am proud to be an American. Because an American can eat anything on the face of this earth as long as he has two pieces of bread." --Bill Cosby, actor and comedian