Obama's Budget Knife Yields Modest Trims  —  Plan Likely to Face Tough Fight on the Hill  —  President Obama has said for weeks that his staff is scouring the federal budget, “line by line,” for savings.  Today, they will release the results: a plan to trim 121 programs by $17 billion …

National Security Adviser Jones Says He's ‘Outsider’ in Frenetic White House  —  President Obama's national security adviser, James L. Jones, looks for rare opportunities to ride his bike from his McLean home to work at the White House.  On occasion, he has pedaled back across the Potomac River for lunch.

New Deal: Specter Gets a Subcommittee Chairmanship  —  Senate Democratic leaders have reached agreement with Sen. Arlen Specter to partially restore the party switcher's status on the Judiciary Committee, by granting Specter the chairmanship of the Crime and Drugs Subcommittee.

Elevating Newt  —  Obama meets today with Al Sharpton, Mike Bloomberg, and Newt Gingrich to talk about education, and the latter three will then speak to press on the White House lawn.  —  It's a way for the administration to signal openness to a range of voices on the topic, but it's also an interesting choice of conservative.

Conservatives Prep Dossiers, Polls for Court Fight  —  Clockwise from top left: Curt Levey, Gary Marx and Kellyanne Conway (YouTube, Judicial Confirmation Network)  —  Curt Levey sometimes wears a lapel pin with the faces of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito and the legend “Thanks, W.”

How We Tested the Big Banks  —  THIS afternoon, Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve will announce the results of an unprecedented review of the capital position of the nation's largest banks.

Band of centrists forming for Senate GOP in 2010  —  For those writing Republican centrism's obituary after Arlen Specter's party switch, holster your quills.  —  In fact, if the next few weeks go well for the GOP, it might pave the way for a whole new chapter in the left flank of the right-leaning party.

DAVID SIMON AND THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM PANEL.  —  The future of journalism panel was a frustrating affair.  John Kerry, who chaired the hearings, was apparently unaware of how websites like Google and Yahoo aggregate news, and so was ill prepared to ask informed questions about how newspapers might make more money off their content.

The Torture Follies — Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse ...  As K-Lo notes, I have an article (posted on the homepage this afternoon) which recounts how the Obama administration is urging the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to adopt the same interpretation of federal torture law …

Should the GOP Forget Reagan?  —  The Republican Party's unending tale of woe sounds like a friend's account of sitting through the New York Yankees' 22-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians at the new Yankee Stadium April 18.  —  In the 14-run second inning, three Indians hit home runs into the right-field seats, including a grand-slam.

EXCLUSIVE: Records violations ensnare housing nominee  —  Office handed largest fine in U.S. history  —  President Obama's choice for the government's No. 2 housing job is embroiled in the largest fine in U.S. history for “blatant violations” of open records laws after the Washington State …

Limbaugh to Powell: ‘Become a Democrat’  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Rush Limbaugh fired back at Colin Powell for his critical comments earlier this week, saying Wednesday that the former secretary of state should join the Democratic Party.  —  “What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop …

The president has a friend on right flank  —  Here's something you don't see every day: Republican Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.) stopping by the White House to catch up with his longtime friend, President Obama.  —  No official business, Coburn told The Hill after the Wednesday meeting — just a social visit.

Stress Tests Said to Show Banks Need More Money  —  The results of the bank stress tests have been trickling out for days, from Washington and from Wall Street, and the leaks seem to confirm what many bankers feel in their bones: despite all those bailouts, some of the nation's largest banks still need more money.

Are There Any Rules In The Bailout Game?  —  For the Obama administration, the answer is “no.”  —  We are entering a precarious phase of the economic and financial crisis.  On the one hand, there are encouraging, if weak, signs of an economic recovery.  There is evidence of a revival in lending.

The ‘Free Choice’ Act Is Anything But  —  George Meany and binding arbitration.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The recent news that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter has become a member of the Democratic caucus has given new life to legislation that many thought had been put to rest for this Congress …