Congressional Sources: White House Reviewing Terms of Spending Deal  —  The likelihood of a war-time federal government shutdown—the first in American history—diminished dramatically on Friday night as all parties began reviewing, with the goal of approving, a broad array of cuts …

The Brave and Serious Mr. Ryan  —  I mentioned earlier that if asked to choose an adjective to describe the budget plan presented by Rep. Paul Ryan, I would suggest “partisan” or “gimmicky,” as opposed to “serious” or “brave.”  Most budget proposals are both partisan and gimmicky, so this is no particular knock against Rep. Ryan.

Vote-Counting Error In Wisconsin Points to Incompetence, Not Conspiracy  —  When Kathy Nickolaus, the county clerk in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, spoke to the press on Thursday after revealing that she had failed to count more than 14,000 ballots in the hotly contested state supreme court election …

What Planned Parenthood actually does  —  With Planned Parenthood being either the major obstacle to a budget deal or one of the major obstacles to a budget deal, it's worth taking a minute explaining what they do — and what they don't do.  —  As you can see in the chart atop this post …

Rep. Louise Slaughter: GOP Freshmen Came to Washington ‘To Kill Women’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said today that the new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives last November came to Congress “to kill women.”  She also likened Republican efforts …

Video: Moran gets irritable at veteran's interruption in town-hall meeting  —  The absent majority.  —  That headline is a little more fair than the suggestions that came to me this morning on a clip from a town-hall meeting held by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) last night, in which the Congressman loses …

War Is No Excuse For Forgetting One's Manners  —  War Etiquette Tips  —  From Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)  —  As a lad in Charleston, I at first chafed whenever Mama would squire me to my weekly instructions at Miss Buelah Fontaine's Palmetto Street Finishing Academy for Young Gentlemen.

Schumer likens conservatives to a flea  —  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) compared House conservatives to a flea Friday as rhetoric in the spending fight intensified.  —  Schumer, who has been criticizing Republicans all day, said in a floor speech Friday that conservatives were the flea controlling the dog …

Cathie Black vows to come back: “I'm a warrior”  —  Few career falls are as swift and spectacular as Cathie Black's.  —  It took just 95 days for the former boss of Hearst Magazines — and alum of the Fortune Most Powerful Women list — to get ousted as chancellor of New York City public schools.

Rush Limbaugh slammed for ‘avoiding’ eligibility  —  ‘Not 1 high Republican or you has ever really tried to nail’ Obama  —  Radio giant Rush Limbaugh came under fire today from a caller to his top-rated program accusing the host of avoiding the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility to be president.

Biden gets fed up during spending talks  —  Vice President Joe Biden got visibly upset during late night White House talks on avoiding a government shutdown.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Friday morning that Biden doesn't get upset very often …