Business leaders involved in homebuilding, oil drilling or automaking are happy about the way 2013 has kicked off. Lower- and middle-income consumers, on the other hand, are feeling like the year has kicked them in the head.

"Consumers have not rebounded with the arrival of the new year," says Ed Farrell, director of consumer insight at the Consumer Reports National Research Center. "Middle-income Americans were particularly hard hit this month and appear to be losing ground."

According to reports, President Obama will nominate Sally Jewell to replace outgoing Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Jewell is the president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc., better known as outdoor outfitter REI, and a former oil company official.

The Super PAC American Crossroads has released a stinging ad targeting actress-activist Ashley Judd, who is considering a bid against Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The digital spot portrays Judd as an out-of-touch Hollywood liberal and criticizes her for being a supporter of President Obama, living in Tennessee and progressive politics.

Watch:

The ad is called "Ashley's Story" and cost the group $10,000.

(We updated the top of this post at 10:45 a.m. ET.)

The Boy Scouts of America now intends to vote in May about whether its troops should be allowed to accept gay members and leaders, a spokesman says.

Have you ever spent a couple of hours working on a craft project — or a presentation for work — and then fallen in love with what you've accomplished? Do the colors you've picked for your PowerPoint background pop so beautifully that you just have to sit back and admire your own genius?

If so, get in line: You're the latest person to fall victim to the Ikea Effect.

FRANKFORT — Advocates of legalizing marijuana for medical uses in Kentucky are rallying Wednesday afternoon  in the Capitol Annex.

Sen. Perry Clark, a Democrat of Louisville, has introduced Senate Bill 11 into the state Senate. If passed the bill, known as the Gatewood Galbraith Medical Marijuana Memorial Act  would "establish a comprehensive system for medical marijuana in Kentucky." 

Clark said he expects that, in a conservative estimate, several hundred people could participate in the 1 p.m. rally.

(We updated the top of this post at 10:37 a.m. ET.)

Calling it "absolutely necessary" if the U.S. Postal Service is going to stop losing billions of dollars a year and reach anything close to financial stability, Postmaster Gen. Patrick Donahoe confirmed Wednesday morning that USPS is moving to eliminate Saturday delivery of first-class mail.

The Environmental Protection Agency has released the second year of data of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, which it's congressionally-mandated to report.

Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and are thought to be one of the primary drivers of climate change. The EPA has successfully argued that the gases are pollutants and pose a danger to human health.

(Revised on 2/6/1013 at 12:28 pm ET to include FCC comment.)

In Washington, there's always one kind of alleged war or another against some group or idea — the war on women, the war on religion and the war on the Second Amendment come quickly to mind.

This week, many of us became aware of another supposed conflict we had never heard of: essentially, a war on Wi-Fi.

A confidential Justice Department memo obtained by NBC News outlines legal theories the Obama administration has used to justify killing American citizens abroad. Here are five key questions and answers about the document:

1) What is it?