The Budget Speech  —  Style: I liked the way Obama made a case for government at the beginning.  I liked the way he accused Republicans of pessimism, of abandoning a hopeful vision of America.  Good that he went after the Ryan plan — and good that he went after the cruelty of that plan.

Text of Obama Speech on the Deficit  —  Here is the prepared text of President Barack Obama's speech on the deficit, as released by the White House:  —  Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery  —  The Country We Believe In  —  The George Washington University  —  Washington, D.C.

CBO: Budget deal cuts this fiscal year's deficit by just $353 million, not $38 billion touted  —  WASHINGTON — A new budget estimate released Wednesday shows that the spending bill negotiated between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner would produce less than 1 percent …

Asleep on the Job: What Was Vice President Joe Biden Doing During Obama's Debt Speech?  —  ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports:  —  Vice President Biden chose an inopportune time for either a nap or some deep reflection today.  —  As President Obama weighed in on one of the most important issues of the day …

LensCrafters v. Bachmann  —  Washington (CNN) - The optics don't look great for Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.  That is, if you're talking about her relationship with LensCrafters, the one-stop shop of eye care and eyewear.  —  The possible GOP presidential candidate supported her belief …

GOP senators: Raise retirement age to 70  —  Three Republican senators on Wednesday will propose a Social Security reform package that would raise the retirement age to 70 and cut benefits for the wealthy.  —  Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Mike Lee (Utah) …

Screening of 6 Year-Old at MSY  —  ***Update 4-13-2011 7:07 PM*** Welcome Drudge readers and anyone else who's new to the TSA Blog.  Seeing that many of you have never been here before, I wanted to provide links to a couple of posts we've written on pat-downs.  They will give you a better idea of why pat-downs are used and when.

Throw Grandma From the Train  —  President Obama at the GOP House retreat, January 2010:  —  “We're not going to be able to do anything about any of these entitlements if what we do is characterize whatever proposals are put out there as, 'Well, you know, that's — the other party's being irresponsible.

Graham vows to bring Senate to standstill over $40K for project  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has vowed to bring the Senate to a standstill unless congressional leaders agree to allocate $40,000 for a federal study on deepening the Port of Charleston.  —  Graham says one out of five jobs …

Obama, to Curb Deficit, Urges Cuts and More Taxes on Rich  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama called for cutting the nation's combined budget deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years on Wednesday, countering Republican budget plans with what he said was a more balanced approach that relies …

Barack Obama's Deficit Plan  —  Brad DeLong's summary of Barack Obama's budget ideas is useful (though caveat emptor here, there's rounding so the numbers don't add up right): … Some of these are fine however.  However, the basic premise continues to be weird.

COLBERT KEEPS TWITTER HEAT ON KYL  —  Sen. Jon Kyl's claim that “well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does” is abortion-related is getting a continued skewering from political comedians.  —  Comedy Central late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart have since Monday laid …

Sidney Harman 1918-2011  —  Sidney Harman died last night of complications from acute myeloid leukemia at the young age of almost 93.  He first learned of his illness one month ago and remained vigorously engaged as Executive Chairman of Newsweek, and Chairman of the Academy for Polymathic Study …

WHOOPS: AP Falls For Hoax Press Release Saying That GE Will Repay Government $3.8 Billion Tax Break  —  Original post: The AP just fell for a hoax press release, which claimed that GE would repay the government the $3.8 billion tax loss carryforward it received.

Birther Bill Passes Arizona Senate  —  A few days after its main sponsor met with Donald Trump, Arizona's “birther bill” has passed the state Senate.  The bill requires a sworn statement confirming the candidates residents and... drum roll...  (sorry for the caps):