memeorandum: After a Grumble, NATO Apologizes for Airstrike (New York Times)

3:35 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, Betsy's Page, neo-neocon, Don Surber, BizzyBlog and The Atlantic Online

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: NationalJournal.com and Weasel Zippers

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, NationalJournal.com, Daily Kos, The Reaction 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, The Raw Story, Guardian, The Nation and ECHIDNE of the snakes

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

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

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
No Accord in Budget Talks as Policy Fights Hamper Deal

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

Jay Newton-Small / Swampland:
Is This Really All About Abortion?

Discussion: National Review, The Atlantic Online, Mother Jones and CNN

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Bachmann wants ‘clean’ bill to fund government for one week

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Associated Press

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

Discussion: Pat Dollard

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

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, The Hill, The Jawa Report, The Blaze, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Pundit & Pundette

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

Discussion: Daily Kos

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

Discussion: ABCNEWS and George's Bottom Line

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Wonk Room

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

Discussion: The Daily Dish and ThinkProgress

New York Times:
Shutdown Near, No Sign of Compromise

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

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Abortion, Spending Cuts Hamper Deal To Avoid Government Shutdown

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, CNN, The Raw Story, The Hill, The Atlantic Online and The Politico

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: The Incidental Economist, National Review, The New Republic, Mother Jones, 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, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Eschaton, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Paul Krugman, Whiskey Fire and Yglesias

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
The Democrats have a plan for controlling health-care costs. Paul Ryan doesn't.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Incidental Economist, Mother Jones, CNN, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Paul Krugman

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

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

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

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Wisconsin Republican County Clerk Claims She Misplaced 7,500 Votes For Justice Prosser, Her Former Boss — Last night, Republican Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus rocked Wisconsin's Supreme Court election by claiming that she had suddenly found 14,315 lost votes in the most conservative county in the state.

Discussion: Guardian, Los Angeles Times and blue cheddar

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

Discussion: New York Times, TPMDC, Wall Street Journal and Hotline On Call

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

Discussion: The Foundry, National Review, Wisconsin Radio Network, host.madison.com, blue cheddar, Liberty Street, Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos

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

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

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

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

Mark McKinnon / Politics:

How Michele Bachmann Can Win — THE DAILY BEAST ON: — The Minnesota firebrand could parlay her Tea Party support, fundraising skills, and message discipline into a serious run for the White House. She has the fire in the belly, Mark McKinnon writes. — Though prone to gaffes …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs and The Daily Beast

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

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Hit & Run and JSOnline

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: LifeNews.com, GOP 12 and National Review

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

Commander in Chief's Appalling Action with Our Troops — Yesterday the House passed H.R. 1363, which funds our Department of Defense and our military for the rest of the year at their current levels. It allows for the continuation of current military operations, which is pretty important when you're fighting three wars.

Discussion: Cubachi, GOP 12 and The Gateway Pundit

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, Towleroad News #gay, Pam's House Blend and Joe. My. God.