memeorandum: Cash grants instead of Medicare? (Tyler Cowen/Marginal Revolution)

2:30 PM ET, April 14, 2011

Top Items:

Nancy Pelosi snaps at White House adviser Gene Sperling — In a tense moment that may well have encapsulated the frustrations of three-plus months in the minority, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi snapped at a top presidential economic adviser, Gene Sperling, during a closed-door meeting …

Discussion: Swampland, Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove, Ballot Box and The Hill

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

Budget Confusion — Some conservatives were taken aback by the AP's report yesterday that the continuing resolution (CR) that cuts $38 billion will only reduce this fiscal year's deficit—i.e. reduce total outlays through September 30—by $352 million. — Is the CR a sham? Nope, not really.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Politico, Hot Air, Fox News, hosted2.ap.org, TPMDC and AmSpecBlog

National Review:

Strike One — We initially supported the deal House Speaker John Boehner cut with the White House to cut $38.5 billion from the rest of the fiscal year 2011 budget. It was only a pittance in the context of all of Washington's red ink, but it seemed an acceptable start, even if we assumed it would be imperfect in its details.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Greenroom, The Hill, Vox Popoli, RedState, Patterico's Pontifications and Riehl World View

The Hill:
WHIP COUNT: Budget deal appears to have votes to pass Congress

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Nancy Pelosi fades as power player

Discussion: Fox News, FrumForum and The Hill

Shane D'Aprile / The Hill:
Freshmen shrugging off Tea Party primary threats over spending deal

Discussion: New York Times, The Note, DownWithTyranny! and AMERICAblog News

Associated Press:
CBO: Budget deal cuts this fiscal year's deficit by just $353 million, not $38 billion touted

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
CBO Score of Budget Deal Could Make House Passage Difficult

Discussion: Open Congress, The Politico and Outside the Beltway

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:
Haley Barbour To New Hampshire Voters: Boehner's Budget Deal Is ‘A Single In The First Inning’

Discussion: National Review, The Caucus, Erick's blog and Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal:

The Presidential Divider — Obama's toxic speech and even worse plan for deficits and debt. — Did someone move the 2012 election to June 1? We ask because President Obama's extraordinary response to Paul Ryan's budget yesterday—with its blistering partisanship and multiple distortions …

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:
Krauthammer's take on Obama's budget address: ‘I thought it was a disgrace’

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Moderate Voice, Weekly Standard, Left Coast Rebel, Bloomberg, The New Republic, The Gateway Pundit, Taylor Marsh, The Atlantic Online, GayPatriot, Atlas Shrugs, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly and Outside the Beltway

Ramesh Ponnuru / National Review: Paul Ryan vs. the Mythmakers

Azi Paybarah / New York Observer:

Trump: ‘Always Had a Great Relationship With The Blacks’ — You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly. — Donald Trump speaking with Fred Dicker. — Donald Trump shot down a report claiming …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Atlantic Online, Taegan Goddard's … and msnbc.com, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Trump and the blacks — Donald Trump was asked just now on Fred Dicker's radio show about African-American support for President Obama. — “I have a great relationship with the blacks,” he said, continuing to call the overwhelming black support for President Obama “frightening.”

Discussion: CNN and GOP 12

Lauraklairmont / CNN:

Trump to make announcement about announcement — Washington (CNN) - Proving once again that Donald Trump knows a bit about publicity, the business man and real estate mogul will make an announcement on the season finale of “Celebrity Apprentice” about his intentions on running for the White House.

Discussion: Wake up America, FrumForum, Outside the Beltway and GOP 12

Ronald Kessler / NewsMax.com:
Exclusive: Trump to Announce His Run for President

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hot Air

Michael O'Brien / The Hill: Trump will announce 2012 decision in days after ‘Apprentice’ finale

Dennis Cauchon / USA Today:

Share of population working — Roll over each state to see the share of the population working in 2010: — Sources: USA TODAY, Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics — The share of the population that is working fell to its lowest level last year since women started entering the workforce …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, Weasel Zippers, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Right Wing News and Pajamas Media

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

DeMint: If vote to raise debt ceiling is GOP's Waterloo, ‘let it be’ — A top conservative senator on Thursday indicated he is willing to go to extreme lengths to prevent a vote on raising the debt ceiling, even if it hurts the Republican Party politically.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and FrumForum

David Weigel / Slate:
Dancing on the Ceiling — How Republicans are framing the debate …

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, Weigel and protein wisdom

Henry Blodget / The Business Insider:

PROFESSOR: Sarah Palin Probably Staged A Gigantic Hoax About Being Trig's Mother — An interesting footnote has emerged to a theory that raged around the Internet during Sarah Palin's candidacy for Vice President: — The theory is that Sarah Palin is actually the grandmother of her purported son Trig …

Discussion: Indecision Forever and The Daily Dish

New York Times:

In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures — It is a question asked repeatedly across America: why, in the aftermath of a financial mess that generated hundreds of billions in losses, have no high-profile participants in the disaster been prosecuted?

Discussion: Salon, Yglesias, The Confluence, The Awl, The Big Picture, Prairie Weather, Reuters, FrumForum and The Politico

CNBC:

Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise; Inflation Pressure Grows — New claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, bouncing back above the key 400,000 level, while core producer prices clumbed faster than expected in March, government reports showed on Thursday.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Scared Monkeys

Derek Tang / Macroadvisers:

The Economic Effects of the Ryan Plan: Assuming the Answer? — Last week the House Budget Committee, chaired by Congressman Paul Ryan (R, WI) issued a Budget Resolution for fiscal year 2012 along with a Republican blueprint for addressing the nation's long-term fiscal imbalance.

Discussion: Yglesias and Connecting.the.Dots

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:

About That Lawsuit... The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Jonathan Tasini is so utterly without merit, and has been so thoroughly eviscerated in the media — including being ridiculed as the “dumbest lawsuit ever” — I am hesitant to take any time away from aggregating adorable kitten videos to respond.

Discussion: Mixed Media, Left Coast Rebel, The Atlantic Online, Don Surber, TechCrunch, New York Times, The Daily Dish, Mediaite, The TrogloPundit, The Business Insider and Digits, more at Mediagazer »

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:

Fireworks expected as Gov. Walker heads to Hill to talk unions — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) could be in for a rowdy welcome from unions and liberal groups when he comes to Capitol Hill on Thursday to testify about his work on reducing the state's budget deficit.

Discussion: msnbc.com, ABCNEWS and ThinkProgress

Donald L. Luskin / Wall Street Journal:

Remembering the Real Ayn Rand — The author of “Atlas Shrugged” was an individualist, not a conservative, and she knew big business was as much a threat to capitalism as government bureaucrats. — Tomorrow's release of the movie version of “Atlas Shrugged” is focusing attention …

Discussion: Hit & Run and RedState

Myglesias / Yglesias:

The False Promise of Class Size Reduction — The idea of reducing class sizes is very popular with the public, and there's no organized interest group opposition to it. Consequently, one of the main things we've done in US education policy over the years is make class sizes smaller.

Discussion: Center for American Progress and Eschaton

Ed Kilgore / The New Republic:

The Fred Thompson Effect — Why a dark-horse candidate can't save the GOP. — By now, it should be obvious that anyone hoping party insiders will draft a Jeb Bush or Chris Christie or Rick Perry to rescue the lackluster Republican 2012 field from itself is living in a hopeless fantasyland.

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: White House.gov Blog, Michelle Malkin, Pirate's Cove, The Washington Current, Questions and Observations, The Other McCain, The Incidental Economist, Washington Post, Opinion L.A., The Gateway Pundit, The Enterprise Blog, Mother Jones, The Lonely Conservative, The Daily Dish and Washington Wire

Phoenix, Arizona:

Arizona Senate approves ‘birther’ bill — PHOENIX - The Arizona Senate has approved a revised bill requiring presidential candidates to prove they are U.S. citizens eligible to run for the office. — The bill approved Wednesday gives candidates additional ways to prove they meet the constitutional requirements to be president.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Yglesias, Outside the Beltway, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Weigel, American Times, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, Wonkette, Vox Popoli and Pajamas Media

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: The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, Right Wing News, Hot Air, Moe Lane, Washington Post and Instapundit

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:

Gov. Chris Christie Tells Reporters To ‘Take The Bat’ To 76-Year Old Widow Legislator — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who has virtually declared war on the state's labor unions, is known for having an antagonizing style of politics, with some of his most infamous moments including telling …

Discussion: NorthJersey.com and The Raw Story

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:

Gallup: Obama's Approval Drops Below 50 Percent Among Poorest Americans; No Longer Enjoys Majority Approval In Any Income Class — (CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama's approval among the poorest Americans dropped to an all-time low of 48 percent last week, according to the Gallup poll …

Discussion: RedState, Scared Monkeys and The Page

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:

Cash grants instead of Medicare? — Matt Yglesias tweets: … They might rather have a servant, or a better car, or an apartment which doesn't require them to drive, or to eat a better diet or join a better gym. Or maybe they would rather live it up, travel, and perhaps die at a younger age.

Discussion: Yglesias, Modeled Behavior and Free exchange

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Obama, Spending Three Times as Fast as Bush, Blames Bush — Seven quick thoughts on the Most Important Speech of Obama's Presidency Since the Last One . . . 1. The prepared text begins, “This debate over budgets and deficits is about more than just numbers on a page, more than just cutting and spending.

Discussion: Wake up America, The Daily Dish and Ironic Surrealism

Alan J. Kuperman / Boston Globe:

False pretense for war in Libya? — EVIDENCE IS now in that President Barack Obama grossly exaggerated the humanitarian threat to justify military action in Libya. The president claimed that intervention was necessary to prevent a “bloodbath” in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and last rebel stronghold.

Discussion: Eunomia