Budget deal leaves liberals disheartened  —  The $38.5 billion deal brokered between Republicans and President Barack Obama on Friday night may have resolved the immediate threat of a government shutdown.  But it didn't take long for many liberal Democrats to begin to realize that there might …

Donald Trump Responds  —  To the Editor:  —  Re “Donald Trump Gets Weirder,” by Gail Collins (column, April 2):  —  Even before Gail Collins was with the New York Times, she has written nasty and derogatory articles about me.  Actually, I have great respect for Ms. Collins in that she has survived so long with so little talent.

Next on the Agenda for Washington: Fight Over Debt  —  WASHINGTON — The down-to-the-wire partisan struggle over cuts to this year's federal budget has intensified concern in Washington, on Wall Street and among economists about the more consequential clash coming over increasing the government's borrowing limit.

A Director of Classics, Focused on Conscience  —  Sidney Lumet, a director who preferred the streets of New York to the back lots of Hollywood and whose stories of conscience — “12 Angry Men,” “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Verdict,” “Network” — became modern American film classics …

Obama Makes Campaign Stop of Sorts at Lincoln Memorial  —  President Barack Obama played tourist Saturday afternoon in what looked a lot like a retail campaign stop at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. … Mr. Obama, who officially launched his 2012 re-election campaign …

Why Progressives Keep On Losing and the Right Keeps On Winning  —  Congratulations!  The “grand compromise” will cut nearly thirty nine billion dollars in needed government spending, which proves how “serious” everyone is about reducing the deficit.  The grand compromisers could have cancelled …

Muslims offended by Trinny & Susannah  —  Channel 10 apologizes for ads showing British fashion advisors in immodest clothing against backdrop of al-Aqsa Mosque  —  Eran Baron  —  Channel 10 apologized for the incident on Wednesday evening and promised to change the ads immediately.

The Aftermath  —  I have to rescind my assessment last night that John Boehner got nothing out of the late negotiations on the 2011 budget.  Apparently, he won the restoration of a ban on the District of Columbia spending its own money to help poor women obtain abortions.