memeorandum: Google Said to Be Possible Target of U.S. FTC Antitrust Probe (Bloomberg)

2:50 PM ET, April 5, 2011

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The GOP Path to Prosperity — Our budget cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years and puts the nation on track to pay off our national debt. — Congress is currently embroiled in a funding fight over how much to spend on less than one-fifth of the federal budget for the next six months.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, Cubachi, The Politico, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Free exchange, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, PERRspectives, Swampland, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Cato @ Liberty, The Daily Dish, YID With LID, The Powers That Be, neo-neocon, Shakesville, Yglesias, The Caucus, TPMDC, The Foundry, Ricochet.com, GayPatriot, The Hill, Cold Fury, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Review, Betsy's Page, The Hill, Questions and Observations, American Spectator, The Incidental Economist, Liberal Values, Wonk Room, The Note, BizzyBlog, Verum Serum, Another Black Conservative, MyDD, Scared Monkeys, Blue Collar Philosophy, Right Wing News, The Lonely Conservative, AmSpecBlog, That Mr. G Guy's Blog, Liberty Pundits Blog, Speaker, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Daily Caller, Washington Wire, sisu, The Gateway Pundit, Fausta's Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Pajamas Media and Viking Pundit

David Brooks / New York Times:

Moment of Truth — It was a season of fiscal perestroika. Last fall, the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission released a bold report on how to avoid an economic catastrophe. For a few weeks, the think tanks and government offices were alive with proposals to reduce debt and reform entitlements …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Economix, The Hill, Ross Douthat, Reuters, Salon, The Hill, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, The Minority Report, The Reality-Based Community, Atlas Shrugs and NewsBusters.org blogs

Myglesias / Yglesias:

Paul Ryan Slams Medicaid's Middle Class Beneficiaries As The New Welfare Queens — The essence of Paul Ryan's Ryan Ripoff budget is hiding the ball. Steep cuts in Medicare—but not for anyone who's old today! Giant tax cuts for the rich—but tax hikes for the middle class!

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Tim Fernholz / NationalJournal.com:

The Ryan Budget: Big Cuts, Bigger Questions — House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's 2012 budget is estimated to cost $6.2 trillion less over 10 years than President Obama's plan, with an initial deficit of $950 billion next year that decreases, along with government debt, over time.

Discussion: Eschaton, American Power and The Hill

Free exchange:

Best budget ever — PAUL RYAN has officially revealed the House Republicans' budget proposal, and we will have a detailed analysis of it up in short order. Reactions to the plan will vary (sharply, it's safe to say). But whatever your take on the policy proposals, it's worth approaching …

Discussion: Yglesias, A plain blog about politics, AmSpecBlog and Hot Air

Myglesias / Yglesias:
Paul Ryan's Plan Counts On Reducing Unemployment To Below “Full Employment” Level — By Magic!

Discussion: The Incidental Economist and TPMDC

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Palin offers praise for Ryan's budget

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin and Ben Smith's Blog

M.S. / Democracy in America:
You put the load right on me

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Economist's View, Paul Krugman, EconLog, The Incidental Economist and National Review

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
The Poor Are Easy Targets

Discussion: The New Republic and Truthout

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
Choice-based Medicare cost controls

Discussion: Yglesias, National Review, Washington Post and The Incidental Economist

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
Paul Ryan is Not Jesus, But His Path To Prosperity Gospel is Really Good

Discussion: The Politico, Cubachi, RedState, Big Government, Yglesias and No More Mister Nice Blog

Sara Jerome / The Hill:

Ex-NPR chief: House Republicans have thrust NPR into ‘turmoil’ — The change of power in the House has thrust NPR into “turmoil,” according to the former chief executive of the organization. — Vivian Schiller said NPR has been through a “very difficult” time in the past several months.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Fox Nation and Weasel Zippers

appropriations.house.gov:

Another Continuing Resolution Introduced to Prevent Government Shutdown, Cut $12 billion in Spending — WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers today introduced another temporary funding measure - known as a Continuing Resolution (CR) - to prevent a government shutdown …

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Fox News, Michelle Malkin, The Hill, Open Congress, LifeNews.com, Say Anything, Washington Post and National Review

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

GOP Leadership: White House Has Rejected Emergency One-Week Funding Measure … WASHINGTON — Congressional GOP leaders said on Tuesday that the Obama administration has informed them that it will oppose a last-ditch stopgap funding measure proposed by House Republicans to keep the government running for an additional week.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, The Hill and Swampland

New York Times:
Obama Rejects Further Budget Stopgaps, With Shutdown Near

Discussion: The Politico, The Note, Philly.com, Swampland and Althouse

The Daily Caller:
‘Good’ not great: No deal as Boehner talks to Obama about shutdown

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Hot Air and Say Anything

Jake Sherman / The Politico: John Boehner: No deal at White House meeting

George Zornick / ThinkProgress:
Behind Closed Doors, House Republicans Cheer A Possible Shutdown

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, The Caucus and The Note

The Huffington Post:
Budget Deal Would Give Pentagon Extra Funds In Exchange For Social Program Cuts

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog News

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
House GOP to distribute shutdown plan

Discussion: CNN, Little Green Footballs, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, Associated Press, The New Republic, The Sundries Shack, National Review, Left Coast Rebel, Politics, Daily Kos, The Lonely Conservative, Fox Nation, The Hill and The Hill

Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:

Warning Signs Among the GOP — It's not inconceivable that Republicans might start seeing things go against them in the court of public opinion, starting with the current spending debate. — Until recently, Republicans were taking solace in a number of things as they looked forward to 2012.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, USA Today, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Parody gets more views than real Obama launch — The National Republican Senatorial Committee's parody of Obama's 2012 campaign, released Friday, now has 665,000 views on YouTube. — Obama's real launch video, released yesterday: Just 168,000. — YouTube's metrics tend to lag a bit …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Pajamas Media, techPresident, Saint Petersblog and The Daily Caller

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney leads in NH, Trump makes things interesting — Mitt Romney's still the clear early front runner to take the Republican primary in New Hampshire next year but for the first time in our polling of the race PPP finds someone within single digits of him...Donald Trump.

Discussion: The Politico, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's …, Wonkette and Ballot Box

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Maine Mural Controversy: U.S. Labor Department Says Put It Back Up Or Repay The Money … Department Of Labor , Department Of Labor Maine , Labor Mural , Labor Protests , Maine Mural , Paul Lepage , Paul Lepage Maine , Paul Lepage Maine Governor , Paul Lepage Mural , Politics News

Discussion: The Reaction, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Department Of Labor steps into battle over Maine mural

Discussion: Kennebec Journal and Weasel Zippers

Tom Bowman / NPR:

Gen. Petraeus Being ‘Seriously Considered’ For CIA Director, NPR Reports — General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is expected to leave that job by early fall. And the question has been, where does he go from there? — Several sources, including government officials …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, The AfPak Channel, CBS News and The Raw Story

Telegraph:
Toby Harnden — Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC.

Discussion: Firedoglake and LewRockwell.com Blog

Ynetnews:

ElBaradei: We'll fight back if Israel attacks Gaza — In interview with Arab newspaper, former IAEA chief says if elected as Egypt's next president he will open Rafah crossing in case of an Israeli attack — Former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei …

Discussion: RedState, Israpundit, Right Wing News, The Gateway Pundit, YID With LID, Pajamas Media, Israel Matzav and Weasel Zippers

New York Times:

Cowardice Blocks the 9/11 Trial — Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. described a federal court trial for the self-professed mastermind of Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, as “the defining event of my time as attorney general.” On Monday, Mr. Holder's dream for demonstrating …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Slate, Cato @ Liberty, City Room, Booman Tribune, Gothamist, The Atlantic Online, Blog of Rights, The Reaction, Questions and Observations, Wall Street Journal, Runnin' Scared, Feministe and The Other McCain

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Tim Kaine launches Virginia Senate bid — Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine launched Tuesday his campaign for Senate. — Kaine, in a video recounting his previous work in Virginia, principally as governor, said what had long been suspected: that he'd run to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.).

Discussion: CNN, The Politico and Ben Smith's Blog

Paul Kengor / American Thinker:

Obama, The God That Failed — As someone who has studied, taught, and written about the Middle East for years, I'm the first to concede that President Obama has a tough task. What would I do about Libya if I were president? How about Egypt? — I'm not exactly sure.

Hannah Hess / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Racial slur led to fight with Illinois trooper, student says — CARLINVILLE • The politically connected head of Gov. Pat Quinn's Southern Illinois security detail used a racial slur against a black college student in a Carlinville bar, starting a fight that preceded the officer's resignation, the student says.

Discussion: Big Government, Moe Lane and That Mr. G Guy's Blog

Jennifer Haberkorn / The Politico:

Senate finally votes to repeal 1099 measure in health care reform law — The Senate on Tuesday voted to repeal the health care overhaul's 1099 tax reporting requirements, finally ending months of debate and votes over a provision that, by the end, had few defenders.

Discussion: CNN

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

How Michele Bachmann Could Win — Michelle Bachmann is starting to make a move in the GOP primary. She's drawing strong reviews for her public appearances. She out-raised Mitt Romney in the first quarter. She's hired Mike Huckabee's well-regarded political director.

Discussion: GOP 12, A plain blog about politics, Yglesias, CBS News and Talking Points Memo

Wall Street Journal:

Coburn vs. Norquist — The Senator is right on ethanol and, in this case, on tax subsidies. — Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has a fighting chance to begin reforming Washington's bonehead ethanol policy. That is unless one prominent conservative organization manages to sabotage his effort.

Discussion: The Foundry and Pajamas Media