Top Items:


Will Paul Ryan Propose a Giant Tax Hike To Make Tax Cuts For the Rich Affordable? — Based on Carl Hulse's reporting from yesterday it's clear that Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) intends to go through with his plan to replace Medicare with vouchers to buy private health insurance, and then cut spending on the vouchers.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Post, New York Times, Marginal Revolution, The New Republic, Weigel and Guardian
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GOP Aim: Cut $4 Trillion — Budget Plan Would Transform Medicare, Reset Budget Debate; Democrats Balk — Republicans will present this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade and transform the Medicare health program …

Privatizing Medicare — So they're really going to propose it. — More when we have some details. But two key points: — 1. Privatizing and voucherizing Medicare does nothing whatsoever to control costs. We've seen that from the sorry history of Medicare Advantage.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The New Republic, The Incidental Economist and AMERICAblog News

First Thoughts: He's in — In email and video to supporters …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Ben Smith's Blog, The New Republic, Pat Dollard, Washington Post, Fox News and Maggie's Notebook


House GOP's ‘Radical’ Plan For Medicare, Medicaid
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Hullabaloo

KSM to be tried by military commission at Gitmo; Holder set to make announcement today — Attorney General Eric Holder today will announce that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad will be tried in a military commission, CBS News has learned.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Sister Toldjah, Taylor Marsh, Verum Serum, AmSpecBlog, Emptywheel, Don Surber, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post and BLACKFIVE
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In Reversal, 9/11 Plotter to Be Tried by Military Panel — WASHINGTON — In a major reversal, the Obama administration has decided to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for his role in the attacks of Sept. 11 before a military commission at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and not in a civilian courtroom.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, Outside the Beltway, Althouse and Balloon Juice

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Accused 9/11 Co-Conspirators to Face Military Trial — The alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S. will be referred to the Defense Department for trial, three sources familiar with the case told Fox News on Monday.
Discussion:
National Review, Fox Nation and Pat Dollard


Obama launches reelection campaign with e-mail, web video — The president pledges to focus on his job, but will pick up the tempo of campaigning this month with several fundraisers. The campaign is hoping to raise a record $1 billion. — President Obama speaking in March (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images))
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Hill, The Democratic Daily, OpenSecrets.org, The Reaction, Mediaite, Washington Post, Politics and NewsBusters.org blogs
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L.A. Times Announces Obama's New Campaign Website - http://www.latimes.com
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Obama launches reelection campaign with video
Discussion:
CNN, Another Black Conservative, American Power, The Lonely Conservative and FrumForum

Pawlenty ribs Obama's reelection announcement
Discussion:
Ballot Box and CNN

41 senators vow to oppose Planned Parenthood rider — Forty-one senators have pledged to filibuster any bipartisan spending bill that includes an amendment to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, threatening an impasse with House conservatives. — The group, led by Sen. Barbara Boxer …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Blue Collar Philosophy and FrumForum
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41 Senate Dems oppose GOP Planned Parenthood cuts
Discussion:
Cubachi and Weasel Zippers


MONEY TALKS — Eight of the current Supreme Court Justices are known for their zeal in questioning lawyers. That tendency was on display last week during the oral argument over the constitutionality of an Arizona law known as the Citizens Clean Elections Act, a law that attempts …
Discussion:
Law Blog
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Money pours into Wis. court race
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Jay Bookman, The Note and Daily Kos

Re: Lindsey Graham and the First Amendment — Andrew, ever since I ran into a spot of bother in Canada, I've found myself giving speeches in defense of freedom of expression in Toronto, London, Copenhagen, etc. I did not think it would be necessary quite so soon to take the same stand …
Discussion:
Diana West, theblogprof, RedState, Althouse, Cold Fury, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, Instapundit and The Politico
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John Phillips: Why Hillary Clinton must run in 2012 — If Hillary Clinton's primary voters and President Obama had their relationship status listed on their Facebook pages, it would change from “Married” to “It's complicated.” — To be fair, Hillary voters never fell in love with Obama, they just fell in line.
Discussion:
CNN, Wizbang, Don Surber, The Radio Patriot and Sipsey Street Irregulars


A Tea Party Star Stirs Iowans, and She Isn't Palin — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Sarah Palin, the reigning heroine of many social conservatives, has given few signals that she will make a presidential bid. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of his appeal …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, The Politico, The Last Tradition, Ballot Box and American Power
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Will Media Give Monday's Nationwide Union Rallies As Much Coverage As Tiny Tea Party Event?
Discussion:
The Right Sphere and Eschaton

GOP freshman class faces its big shutdown decision: Fight or fall in line
Discussion:
The Politico, ABCNEWS and Associated Press


Critics' review unexpectedly supports scientific consensus on global warming — A UC Berkeley team's preliminary findings in a review of temperature data confirm global warming studies. — A team of UC Berkeley physicists and statisticians that set out to challenge the scientific consensus …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Hit & Run and Watts Up With That?
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No degree, little experience pay off big — Just in his mid-20s, Brian Deschane has no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions. — Yet he has landed an $81,500-per-year job in Gov. Scott Walker's administration overseeing environmental …
Discussion:
Wonkette, The Raw Story and Daily Kos

Four Hidden Messages In Obama's 2012 Reelection Launch — If you haven't yet seen it, here is the video that President Obama is using to launch his 2012 campaign. — Notice anything? Here's what I saw: — 1. The new slogan—"It begins with us"—is not a statement of fact.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and The New Republic

OBAMA 2012 LAUNCH VIDEO: ‘IT BEGINS WITH US’ — Rodell Mollineau to big outside group — BP: What spill? — Couric leaving ‘Evening News’; Scott Pelley is likely successor — PRESIDENT OBAMA, in email to supporters: “Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.


Setting The Record Straight on GE's Taxes — There's a heated debate over General Electric's taxes in places ranging from the front page of the New York Times to the blogosphere to, of all places, “The Daily Show.” In the 10 days since the Times touched off this debate …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Fortune, Outside the Beltway, Felix Salmon, Poynter, Washington Post and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »

Clinton: Shutdown would hurt GOP but might not be ‘traumatic’ for economy — A government shutdown might not have a “traumatic” effect on the economy, former President Bill Clinton said Monday. — Clinton, who faced a shutdown during his 1995 budget negotiations with congressional Republicans …
Discussion:
The Politico, Hot Air, Pat Dollard, Connecting.the.Dots, The Moderate Voice and FrumForum