memeorandum: Wisconsin Election Surprise: David Prosser Gains 7,500 Votes After ‘Human Error’ In Waukesha County (VIDEO) (Amanda Terkel/The Huffington Post)

2:25 PM ET, April 8, 2011

Top Items:

Who Really Wants a Shutdown? — President Obama does, but the GOP's strategy is a lot less clear. — For people who keep saying they don't want a government shutdown, Washington's warring parties are sure acting like they can't wait for it to happen. Since the policy stakes …

Discussion: The Caucus, The Atlantic Online, Betsy's Page, Don Surber and BizzyBlog

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

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 …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, NationalJournal.com, The Atlantic Online and The Politico

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Three Anti-Abortion Republicans Tell House GOP To Drop Planned Parenthood Rider To Avoid Shutdown — If Congress fails to reach a budget deal, the government will shut down at midnight tonight — an event that would hinder economic recovery and withhold payment to soldiers.

Discussion: PERRspectives, Outside the Beltway, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, NationalJournal.com, The Reaction and TPMDC

Dan Joseph / CNSNews:

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 …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Moonbattery, LifeNews.com, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Lonely Conservative, Verum Serum, Raw Replay and Pirate's Cove

The Politico:

White House hopes last-minute heroics keep government running — Republicans have hit President Barack Obama for being out of touch, disengaged and unwilling to lead on the budget negotiations — and Democrats aren't wild about his taste for last-minute heroics either.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Hot Air, Guardian, The Monkey Cage and TPMDC

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Defending Riders, Sen. Kyl Falsely Claims 90 Percent Of Planned Parenthood's Services Are For Abortion — With the government mere hours away from shutdown, the budget debate has centered around policy riders that GOP lawmakers insist must be included in any funding bill.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CBS News, Guardian, The Nation and ECHIDNE of the snakes

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

No Accord in Budget Talks as Policy Fights Hamper Deal — WASHINGTON — Another day of intense negotiations between the two parties failed to yield a budget deal on Thursday, leaving the federal government hours from a shutdown. — After the third round of White House talks in 24 hours …

Discussion: The Caucus, Firedoglake, The Hill, Pajamas Media, Virginian-Pilot, TPMDC, The Politico, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, The Hill, The New Republic, Swampland, Washington Post and The Page

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

GOP senator: Republicans should move on from defunding Planned Parenthood — Republicans should “move on” from insisting on defunding Planned Parenthood in a 2011 spending bill, a Republican senator said Friday. — With less than 24 hours to go until a shutdown, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) …

Discussion: Firedoglake, TPMDC, NewsBusters.org blogs, Washington Monthly and National Review

Washington Post:

Both parties continue talks over elusive 2011 budget deal — Gallery: Government shutdown: Democrats and Republicans have so far failed to reach an agreement on the 2011 federal budget, increasing the likelihood of the first government shutdown in more than 15 years.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Runnin' Scared, The Hill, TPMDC, Taylor Marsh, Boing Boing, JustOneMinute, Free exchange, White House.gov Blog, GayPatriot, Booman Tribune, Wonk Room, Outside the Beltway and AMERICAblog News

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Bachmann wants ‘clean’ bill to fund government for one week — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) expressed support for a one-week government funding bill approved by the House, but suggested it should be stripped of language dealing with abortion. — In an interview with CNN's John King on Thursday night …

Discussion: Swampland, National Review and The Blaze

The Note:
Sen. Schumer: Public Will Blame Boehner for Shutdown

Discussion: George's Bottom Line

New York Times:
Shutdown Near, No Sign of Compromise

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Politico, Wonkette and Daily Kos

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Reid's Final Offer To GOP: Drop Planned Parenthood Rider Or Cause A Government Shutdown

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Wonk Room

Meredith Shiner / The Politico:
Senate Democrats plan one-week stopgap

Discussion: Daily Kos

The Politico:
Government shutdown: John Boehner brushes off budget deal talk

Discussion: Pat Dollard

Matt Finkelstein / Political Correction RSS:
Sen. Coburn Says House Republicans Should Drop Contentious Riders

Discussion: The Daily Dish and ThinkProgress

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Breaking: Budget deal? Update: Not yet; Reid says Planned Parenthood higher priority than funding government

Discussion: The Hill, NationalJournal.com, Michelle Malkin, Associated Press, The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Pundit & Pundette

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Abortion Returns to Center Stage

Discussion: Christianity Today, The Nation and The Awl

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
Reagan Budget Guru: Shut It Down!

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Hit & Run, JSOnline, Wall Street Journal and The Hill

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Nancy Pelosi calls GOP budget ‘a war on women’

Discussion: The Foundry, msnbc.com, CNN, USA Today and The Hill

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Ryan Journey — For decades, academics and think tankers have been proposing plans to avert a fiscal catastrophe. The ensuing debates were always sedate, high-minded affairs. Now Republican political leaders have come up with a bold proposal of their own and the atmosphere is totally different.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Incidental Economist, The New Republic, National Review, Free exchange, Daily Kos and Marginal Revolution

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Ludicrous and Cruel — Many commentators swooned earlier this week after House Republicans, led by the Budget Committee chairman, Paul Ryan, unveiled their budget proposals. They lavished praise on Mr. Ryan, asserting that his plan set a new standard of fiscal seriousness.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, American Times, National Review, That Mr. G Guy's Blog, News Desk, Eschaton, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Paul Krugman, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Whiskey Fire and Yglesias

David Frum / FrumForum:
Reading Romney's Mind

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Dish

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Dissents Of The Day — The in-tray is still bulging with fury over Paul Ryan.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Incidental Economist

Jeffrey Sachs / The Huffington Post:
The People's Budget

Discussion: American Times and The Atlantic Online

Daily Kos:

Why Prosser needed EXACTLY +7500 votes.... In WI, a recount at state-expense is triggered if an election is within .5% if the candidate requests it, and we have a fully verifiable paper trail to audit election results. That means in this election with approximately 740k for Kloppenburg and 739k for Prosser …

Discussion: Seattle Times, Reuters, The BRAD BLOG, Booman Tribune, Pundit Press, Right Wing News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Brilliant at Breakfast, blue cheddar and JSOnline

host.madison.com:
High-profile lawyers retained for possible Supreme Court recount

Discussion: TPMDC and Hotline On Call

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Wisconsin Republican County Clerk Claims She Misplaced 7,500 Votes For Justice Prosser, Her Former Boss

Discussion: Guardian, Los Angeles Times and blue cheddar

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
Wisconsin Election Surprise: David Prosser Gains 7,500 Votes After ‘Human Error’ In Waukesha County (VIDEO)

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, blue cheddar, host.madison.com, Liberty Street, National Review, Daily Kos, NPR and WisPolitics Election Blog

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Hah... MoveOn.org Fundraises Off of Kloppenburg's “Victory”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Blaze, MoveOn.Org, Nice Deb and JSOnline

Bob Hague / Wisconsin Radio Network:
Walker weighs in as Kloppenburg claims win (AUDIO)

Discussion: Firedoglake

Monica Davey / New York Times:
Justice Surges to Lead After Clerk Reports Vote Error

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, JSOnline, No More Mister Nice Blog and Law Blog

The Star-Ledger Editorial Page:

Christie takes a cheap shot at Springsteen — He can't help himself, our governor. In less than a year and a half, he's demonized more people than the Salem witch trials — if they had been run by Judge Judy: Democrats. Teachers. Superintendents. Public workers. State Supreme Court justices.

Discussion: Eschaton

David Brody / The Brody File:

Brody File Exclusive: Donald Trump Explains Pro-Life Conversion — In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, Donald Trump explains why he changed his view from pro-choice to pro-life. — He says one of the main reasons was because one of his close personal friends chose to keep his child rather than have an abortion.

Discussion: GOP 12, LifeNews.com and National Review

G-A-Y / Good As You:

G-A-Y Exclusive: National Organization For Marriage tour organizer/Facebook moderator does startling about-face; Exposure to NOM could lead to unintended side effects — Louis Marinelli first came on our radar late last spring, when he started Tweeting under the name “NOMUpdates”:

Discussion: Wonk Room, Pam's House Blend, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: The greatest press conference of all time — Schadenfreude. — Alternate headline via Mary Katharine Ham, ever mindful of developing media narratives: “Small, state-wide election with vital national implications soon to have no national implications whatsoever.”