memeorandum: Cowardly, Stupid, and Tragically Wrong (Dahlia Lithwick/Slate)

4:35 PM ET, April 5, 2011

Top Items:

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: Firedoglake, Ross Douthat, Wonk Room, Connecting.the.Dots, Ben Smith's Blog, Economix, The Hill, Mother Jones, Washington Post, The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, The Hill, The Reality-Based Community, Atlas Shrugs and NewsBusters.org blogs

Paul D. Ryan / Wall Street Journal:

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

New York Times:

Obama Rejects Further Budget Stopgaps, With Shutdown Near — WASHINGTON — Congress and the White House veered toward a fiscal collision on Tuesday as the Obama administration rejected a short-term House Republican demand to cut $12 billion now in exchange for keeping the government open for one more week.

Discussion: The Politico, The Note, Truthdig, Philly.com, ABCNEWS, Swampland, Gothamist, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Althouse

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, Cubachi, A plain blog about politics, Big Government, The Daily Dish, AmSpecBlog and Hot Air

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 Post, The Politico, Washington Monthly, National Review, No More Mister Nice Blog 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: Maggie's Notebook, Little Green Footballs, Eschaton and American Power

M.S. / Democracy in America:

You put the load right on me — PAUL RYAN'S plan to replace Medicare with a system of vouchers for seniors to buy health care on the private market has only been vaguely described, as of this writing. But there is one thing about it that's fairly clear, regardless of what's in the details …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Paul Krugman, Economist's View, The Incidental Economist, Kaiser Health News and EconLog

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
QUOTE OF THE DAY.... House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan …

Discussion: Salon and TPMDC

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: Cubachi, Conservatives4Palin and Ben Smith's Blog

Robert Pear / New York Times:
G.O.P. Blueprint Would Remake Health Policy

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Huffington Post, Reuters, Wonk Room, Daily Kos, CNN, Associated Press, The Minority Report, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Politico and American Prospect

Geoff / Ace of Spades HQ:
Ryan's Plan: Necessary But Not Sufficient (Bumped)

Discussion: Guardian, The Sundries Shack, Cold Fury, Nice Deb and That's What She Said

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: Fox Nation, Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media

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: Firedoglake, ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, The Politico, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Swampland

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Boehner's office says no deal was reached in White House talks

Discussion: Washington Post, Pat Dollard and JOSHUAPUNDIT

appropriations.house.gov:
Another Continuing Resolution Introduced to Prevent Government Shutdown, Cut $12 billion in Spending

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, Hot Air, The Hill, The Politico, Washington Post, Open Congress, LifeNews.com, Michelle Malkin, Say Anything, Firedoglake, The Lonely Conservative, Doug Ross and Pundit & Pundette

David Jackson / USA Today:
Obama: ‘Politics and ideology’ should not trigger shutdown

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Wire and Swampland

David Rogers / The Politico:
New compromise target: $40B in cuts

Discussion: Hot Air and Daily Kos

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

Discussion: The Politico, Pajamas Media, Hot Air and Say Anything

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

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

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

Cowardly, Stupid, and Tragically Wrong — The Obama administration's appalling decision to give Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a military trial. — Today, by ordering a military trial at Guantanamo for 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants, Attorney General Eric Holder finally put …

Discussion: Salon, Ben Smith's Blog, Hit & Run, The Atlantic Online and The Daily Dish

New York Times:
Cowardice Blocks the 9/11 Trial

Discussion: City Room, Cato @ Liberty, Booman Tribune, Questions and Observations, The Reaction, Gothamist, Blog of Rights, Wall Street Journal, Runnin' Scared, msnbc.com, Feministe, The Other McCain and Althouse

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
King: Holder should resign for criticizing Gitmo prisoner trial reversal

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and National Review

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh and USA Today

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: Pajamas Media, JustOneMinute, 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: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Politico, Wonkette, GOP 12, Ballot Box and Taegan Goddard's …

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Senate sends repeal of new Form 1099 requirement to Obama — Washington (CNN) - The Senate voted Tuesday to repeal a part of the health care reform law that would require businesses to file a 1099 tax form with the government for every purchase they make over $600.

Discussion: Cubachi, Fox News and Liberty Pundits Blog

Jennifer Haberkorn / The Politico: Senate finally votes to repeal 1099 measure in health care reform law

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Kaine enters Senate race in Virginia — Washington (CNN) - Democratic National Committee Chairman and former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine ended weeks of speculation Tuesday by announcing that he will seek his state's open Senate seat, which is being vacated by Sen. Jim Webb.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Tim Kaine launches Virginia Senate bid

Discussion: The Politico and Ben Smith's Blog

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

Adam Abrams / White House.gov Blog:
Try the New White House Tax Cut Calculator

Discussion: The Hill

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.

Washington Times:

‘Kill Team’ Brigade commander given wrist slap — (U.S. Army photo) Col. Harry D. Tunnell — The investigation into those responsible for the Afghanistan “kill team” tactics led to “a letter of admonition” of Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV, reports the Military Times on Tuesday. According to MT: (bolding is mine)

Rasmussen Reports:

48% Say Their Views Closer to Tea Party Than Congress — In the ongoing budget-cutting debate in Washington, some congressional Democrats have accused their Republican opponents of being held captive by the Tea Party movement, but voters like the Tea Party more than Congress.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Say Anything, HotAirPundit, Nice Deb and Fox Nation

Anat Shenker-Osorio / Christian Science Monitor:

Do you think the poor are lazy? — Even if you said ‘No,’ the way we talk about wealth assigns moral superiority to the rich. Terms like ‘the wealth gap’ obscure basic truths about inequality, casting it as a natural economic function. Inequality is really a barrier made to keep others out.

Discussion: The Huffington Post