memeorandum: Call The Hostage Takers' Bluff (Myglesias/Yglesias)

10:50 PM ET, April 13, 2011

Top Items:

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.

Discussion: Hendrik Hertzberg, Firedoglake, The Daily Dish, Washington Post, Climate Progress, That Mr. G Guy's Blog, Daily Kos, The only adult in the room, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, National Review, Booman Tribune, Economist's View, Wall Street Journal and Gawker

Clive Crook / The Atlantic Online:

Obama's Speech Was a Waste of Breath — Obama had a difficult assignment in this speech, partly because of the exaggerated hopes for it (see previous post). Even allowing for that, it was weak both politically and substantively. My instant unguarded reaction, in fact, was to find it not just weak but pitiful.

Discussion: Viking Pundit

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Do-Nothing Congress as a Cure — A trick question: If Congress takes no action in coming years, what will happen to the budget deficit? — It will shrink — and shrink a lot. This simple fact may offer the best hope for deficit reduction. — As federal law currently stands …

cbpp.org:

Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on President Obama's Deficit-Reduction Plan — President Obama made an important contribution today to efforts to address the nation's long-term fiscal problems, proposing a plan to reduce deficits by about $4 trillion over the next 12 years and meet …

Discussion: American Times, Hullabaloo, Paul Krugman and AMERICAblog News

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Obama's “bad negotiating” is actually shrewd negotiating — (updated below) — In December, President Obama signed legislation to extend hundreds of billions of dollars in Bush tax cuts, benefiting the wealthiest Americans. Last week, Obama agreed to billions of dollars in cuts …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, Crooks and Liars, TalkLeft, Corrente, Washington Post and Paul Krugman

Annie Lowrey / Slate:
How Congress can balance the budget in eight years by literally doing nothing. This is not a joke.

Discussion: Yglesias, Derek Wallbank, Capital Gains and Games blogs, The Atlantic Online and The New Republic

Associated Press:

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 …

Discussion: The Politico, ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers, National Review, The Sundries Shack, Erick's blog, Fox Nation, Hot Air, Wonk Room, protein wisdom, Daily Kos, Riehl World View, Fox News, Weigel, Hit & Run and Conservatives4Palin

Myglesias / Yglesias:

Call The Hostage Takers' Bluff — Raising the debt ceiling is unpopular, which may seem to militate against taking a hard line on it, but the reality is that the debt ceiling is going to get raised. This isn't a voting issue for anyone in the electorate, but as Politico reports it is life or death for Wall Street:

Discussion: Mother Jones, Free exchange and Democracy in America

David Rogers / The Politico: John Boehner: 'I'll get there' on budget

National Review:
Strike One — We initially supported the deal House Speaker …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Hot Air and Riehl World View

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Dem women will vote for CR despite limits on DC abortions

Discussion: Corrente

Washington Post:
Obama unveils framework for cutting deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Note, Jamie Dupree Washington …, Guardian and Associated Press

Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:
Dem leader: Obama's approach to GOP ‘frustrating to Democrats? You betcha’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Hill and The Nation

Ben White / The Politico:
Wall Street executives warn John Boehner on debt limit

Discussion: Weigel, The Other McCain, Washington Monthly, Swampland, Economix, Crooks and Liars, Riehl World View, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos and Taylor Marsh

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Pawlenty urges lawmakers to reject 2011 budget deal

Discussion: UPI, Erick's blog, Washington Post and The Hill

Washington Wire:

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.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, Liberty Pundits Blog, Conservatives4Palin, LewRockwell.com Blog, The Blaze, Balloon Juice and Jack & Jill Politics

The White House:

FACT SHEET: The President's Framework for Shared Prosperity and Shared Fiscal Responsibility — The President believes that we need a comprehensive, pro-growth economic strategy that invests in winning the future, lays the foundation for strong private-sector job growth and ensures …

Discussion: Washington Post, Opinion L.A., The Incidental Economist, Mother Jones, The Enterprise Blog, The Lonely Conservative and The Daily Dish

New York Times:

Obama's Speech on Reducing the Budget (Text) — Following is a prepared text of President Obama's debt-reduction speech, to be delivered on Wednesday at The George Washington University, as released by the White House: — Good afternoon. It's great to be back at GW.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, A plain blog about politics, Liberal Values, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, The Caucus, Wonk Room, Corrente, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Mother Jones

New York Times:

Obama's Debt Plan Sets Stage for Long Battle Over Spending — WASHINGTON — President Obama made the case Wednesday for slowing the rapid growth of the national debt while retaining core Democratic values, proposing a mix of long-term spending cuts, tax increases and changes to social welfare programs …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Politico, Swampland, Fox News, MyDD, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and The Moderate Voice

George Washington / The White House:
Remarks by the President on Fiscal Policy

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Keith Hennessey, White House.gov Blog and SEIU

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE PRESIDENT'S ROUSING REJECTION OF REPUBLICAN RADICALISM. …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and No More Mister Nice Blog

Ben Terris / NationalJournal.com:

‘Patriotic Millionaires’ Ask to Be Taxed More — If President Obama's deficit-reduction speech today includes a call to end the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, there will surely be pushback; Republicans have already begun a preemptive attack on raising taxes.

Discussion: Hot Air, Moe Lane and Instapundit

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Graham vows to bring Senate to standstill over $40K for project

Discussion: MyDD and InvestmentWatch

Susan Crabtree / TPMDC:
Graham Vows To ‘Tie Senate In Knots’ Over $50K Left Out Of Budget Deal

Discussion: Daily Kos, Business Week, ThinkProgress, Booman Tribune, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway and Talking Points Memo

Lauraklairmont / CNN:

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 …

Discussion: TPMDC

Emily Heil / Roll Call:
Heard on the Hill: Eye Spy a Bachmann Controversy

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and RH Reality Check

The Note:

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 …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, That's What She Said, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Sister Toldjah, Guardian, Riehl World View and The Lonely Conservative

Blogger Bob / The TSA Blog:

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.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Andrew Springer / ABCNEWS:
Parents of 6-Year-Old Girl Pat Down at Airport Want Procedures Changed

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Hit & Run and Weasel Zippers

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Paul Ryan rips Obama's speech: “Rather than building bridges, he's poisoning wells” — Via Mediaite, three minutes of righteous rage. It's all here: Obama's gutless insistence on farming this issue out to commissions to spare himself the political risks of leadership …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CNN and TPMDC

Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Paul Ryan Is Very Disappointed With The President: ‘Demagoguery Not Solutions’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

San Francisco Chronicle:

Barry Bonds guilty of obstruction of justice — (04-13) 15:27 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds, the former Giants outfielder and baseball's all-time home-run leader, was convicted today of obstruction of justice for giving evasive answers to a federal grand jury that questioned him about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Discussion: TalkLeft

Associated Press: Barry Bonds found guilty of obstruction

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

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.

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, National Review, RedState and YID With LID

Steven Hayward / Power Line:

The Mask Slips, Falls to Ground, Explodes — I know, I know, applying the “mask slips” metaphor to Nancy Pelosi, who appears to have sprung full blown from some twisted lefty-nightmare remake of The Stepford Wives, may seem a cliché, but this extraordinary video …

Discussion: RedState, JSOnline, American Power and Sister Toldjah

David Weigel / Weigel:

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):

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Raw Story, Mediaite and Wonkette

David Holthouse / Media Matters for America:

“Family Friendly” Machine Gun Festival Welcomes Extremists — The Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Kentucky advertises its World Famous, twice-a-year Machine Gun Shoot as “Family Friendly” entertainment. The slogan: “Nothing brings families together like blowing stuff apart...safely.”

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

The Politico:

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 …

Discussion: Big Hollywood, MyDD, Jezebel and TPM LiveWire