If you’re trying to get on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s good side, don’t talk about his weight.

That was the lesson learned by former White House doctor Connie Mariano after she said Christie could die in office if he didn’t drop some pounds.

After Mariano’s comments on CNN, Christie fired back today. Read 

Controversial political commentator Dick Morris will no longer be appearing on News Corp’s (NASDAQ:NWS) Fox News.

The network announced that it would not be renewing his contract, reports the Associated Press. Morris hasn’t appeared often on the network following last November’s election. He was a staunch supporter of Republican candidate Mitt Romney and predicted — until the end — a landslide victory for Romney.

Morris — who was once a senior political adviser to Democratic President Bill Clinton until a sex scandal brought him down — has also come under criticism for his website. On it, he accepted advertising from candidates about whom he opined on Fox News. Read 

President Barack Obama put pressure on Congress today to pass a short-term budget deal to avoid automatic spending cuts that are scheduled to take place on March 1.

In a short statement released today in the White House briefing room, Obama said, “Let’s keep on chipping away at this problem together, as Democrats and Republicans, to give our workers and our businesses the support that they need to thrive in the weeks and months ahead.”

The president’s plan involves both spending cuts and tax increases, although it did not specify what the cuts or increases might be, how much the deal would be for, or how long it would last. Obama’s goal is to avoid sequestration, which would implement across the board spending cuts on March 1, save for Social Security and Medicaid. Read 

A joke about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, tweeted by Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, drew quick criticism from U.S. Representative Justin Amash. a fellow Republican.

The Arizona senator sent out a tweet noting that the Iranian president has expressed a desire to be his nation’s first man in space. “Wasn’t he there last week?” McCain added, referencing Iran’s recent claims — disputed by many experts — to have launched a monkey into orbit and safely returned it to Earth, NBCNews notes.

Amash, who represents Michigan, issued his own tweet, chiding McCain for making “racist jokes.” In response, McCain tweeted “can’t everyone take a joke?” Read 

The Republican Party’s chances of taking Sen. John Kerry’s seat have suffered serious blows in recent days, as former Sen. Scott Brown and Mitt Romney’s son Tagg both announced they would not be running for office.

Scott Brown, widely thought to be the presumptive GOP candidate and a frontrunner for election to the seat Kerry left when becoming Secretary of State, announced on Friday that he would not run. Brown released a statement officially announcing his statement, which said in part:

“I was not at all certain that a third Senate campaign in less than four years, and the prospect of returning to a Congress even more partisan than the one I left, was really the best way for me to continue in public service at this time. And I know it’s not the only way for me to advance the ideals and causes that matter most to me.” Read 

President Barack Obama said in an interview with CBS’s Scott Pelley today that the Boy Scouts of America should end its long-standing policy banning gay leaders and members.

In recent days, the top leadership of the Boy Scouts has been considering lifting their prohibition on gay members and scout leaders. There’s a chance the scouts will announce a change in their decades-long policy as early as this week, after their regularly scheduled board meeting.

When asked to elaborate on why he thought the Boy Scouts should allow gay members and leaders, Obama had this to say: Read