Top Items:
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama speech to focus on four steps for fiscal reform — In a major speech Wednesday on fiscal policy, President Obama will lay out four steps he thinks the federal government should take if it wants to balance its budget. — Obama will talk about the need to keep domestic spending low …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
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Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Left's angst grows over Obama's shift to the political center — Anxiety over President Obama's shift to the political center is threatening to alienate the White House's liberal base. — As Obama prepares Wednesday to outline his deficit reduction strategy, liberals worry he'll embrace Medicare …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, msnbc.com, Prairie Weather and JammieWearingFool
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Why Obama was forced to give today's deficit speech
Why Obama was forced to give today's deficit speech
Discussion:
Corrente and Firedoglake
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
GOP senators: Raise retirement age to 70
GOP senators: Raise retirement age to 70
Discussion:
Cubachi, The Politico, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Liberty Pundits Blog
Mary Beth Schneider / Indianapolis Star:
Daniels' presidential run would take on big issues — But governor says he still hasn't decided on 2012 campaign — Gov. Mitch Daniels' campaign for president would be a crusade against federal debt and for major entitlement reform — if, that is, he runs.
Discussion:
CNN, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's …, Hotline On Call, The Hill and The Politico
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Matthew Tully / Indianapolis Star:
Will Daniels seek presidency? Sounds like it
Will Daniels seek presidency? Sounds like it
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:
What Donald Trump's Birther Investigators Will Find in Hawaii
What Donald Trump's Birther Investigators Will Find in Hawaii
Discussion:
CNN, Conservatives4Palin, Prairie Weather, Piers Morgan and Outside the Beltway
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 …
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Ben White / The Politico:
Wall Street executives warn John Boehner on debt limit — NEW YORK — Republicans are growing increasingly concerned about the impact a bruising fight over raising the nation's $14.29 trillion debt ceiling could have on U.S. financial markets. — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Moderate Voice and Riehl World View
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Russell Berman / The Hill:
Hoyer joins Obama in calling past vote on debt ceiling ‘a mistake’
Hoyer joins Obama in calling past vote on debt ceiling ‘a mistake’
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog and The Lonely Conservative
Annie Lowrey / Slate:
How Congress can balance the budget in eight years by literally doing nothing. This is not a joke. — The Simpson-Bowles blue-ribbon deficit commission longs to slash Social Security and defense spending. The Bipartisan Policy Center's Alice Rivlin and Peter Domenici yearn for a value-added tax.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Capital Gains and Games blogs and The New Republic
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Lobbyists Won Key Concessions in Budget Deal — WASHINGTON — At a quarter till midnight last Friday, with a deal to avert a government shutdown barely an hour old, Senator Harry Reid phoned a fellow Democratic senator, Ron Wyden, at home and startled him with some bad news.
Isabel Kershner / New York Times:
Diplomatic Breakdown Amid Bieber Fever in Israel — JERUSALEM — The teenage pop idol Justin Bieber became embroiled in a diplomatic imbroglio on Tuesday when it emerged that plans for a meeting between the singer and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had been called off, with the sides differing over why.
Discussion:
Global Public Square
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Justin Bieber / Haaretz:
Netanyahu cancels Bieber date over refusal to meet kids affected by Gaza rockets
Netanyahu cancels Bieber date over refusal to meet kids affected by Gaza rockets
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Israel Matzav and Religion Dispatches
Susan Crabtree / TPMDC:
Graham Vows To ‘Tie Senate In Knots’ Over $50K Left Out Of Budget Deal — Not all Republicans were celebrating Tuesday about the fine print of the $38.5 billion in cuts House Republicans managed to wrangle in last week's 11th-hour budget showdown. Tea Party loyalists who wanted tens …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway and Booman Tribune
John Melloy / Fast Money:
Inflation Actually Near 10% Using Older Measure — After former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker was appointed in 1979, the consumer price index surged into the double digits, causing the now revered Fed Chief to double the benchmark interest rate in order to break the back of inflation.
Discussion:
The Big Picture, Sweetness & Light, Doug Ross and Don Surber
Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Tea Party group warns GOP members: Shape up or face primaries — One of the nation's largest Tea Party groups is warning congressional Republicans to watch their right flanks ahead of a final vote this week on the long-term budget deal that averted a government shutdown.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:
Obama '12 strategy: Deal and get results
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Pray. Hope. Prepare. — When I was in Cairo during the Egyptian uprising, I wanted to change hotels one day to be closer to the action and called the Marriott to see if it had any openings. The young-sounding Egyptian woman who spoke with me from the reservations department offered …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, The New Republic, National Review and Salon
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Americans Back Budget Deal but Declare No Winner — Split on whether next year's budget should further cut domestic spending — PRINCETON, NJ — Six in 10 Americans approve of the 11th-hour federal budget agreement that congressional leaders reached in time to avert a government shutdown.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air
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Susan Page / USA Today:
Poll: Budget deal wins support, but Americans wary
Poll: Budget deal wins support, but Americans wary
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Caller
Samuel Winnacker / genewscenters.com:
GE Responds to Public Outcry - Will Donate Entire $3.2 Billion Tax Refund to Help Offset Cuts and Save American Jobs — Fairfield, CT, 13th April, 2011- GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt has informed the Obama administration that the company will be gifting its entire 2010 tax refund, worth $3.2 Billion …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Raw Story and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
Patrick Martin / Globe and Mail:
Egypt junta bows to protesters, Mubarak and sons jailed — It didn't take long for Egypt's interim military-backed regime to respond to the country's latest popular demands. — On Friday hundreds of thousands of Egyptians again filled Cairo's Tahrir Square, this time demanding the government …
Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
West to critics: Beware whom you target — He says that threats to his office won't be tolerated and “have put me in quite a bad mood.” — Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) used an email to constituents to respond to a threat against his Florida office last week and to warn critics to …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:
ThinkProgress Leaves Bachmann Speechless: Doesn't ‘Have An Answer’ On Whether Homosexuality Is A Public Health Hazard — Yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) — who is seriously considering launching a campaign for the presidency — appeared before the FAMiLY Leader, an anti-gay social conservative group in Iowa.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Shakesville, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Pam's House Blend, Towleroad News #gay and Good As You
Wall Street Journal:
Spending Cut Hokum — GOP leaders hyped their budget savings. — A mini-revolt is brewing among Republican backbenchers on Capitol Hill now that the specific spending cuts in Friday's budget deal are being revealed. After separating out the accounting gimmicks and one-year savings …
Glenn Harlan Reynolds / Wall Street Journal:
Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Drink — Republicans can make up for a Reagan-era error by returning this issue to the states. — 'If you get shot at, you can have a shot. " That's the rationale behind Alaska State Representative—and Vietnam veteran—Bob Lynn's effort to establish …
Discussion:
Althouse, Pajamas Media, The Volokh Conspiracy and Don Surber