House approves budget deal that averted shutdown  —  Alex Wong/ GETTY IMAGES - U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the House Budget Committee, holds up a copy of the 2012 Republican budget proposal.  —  Eliminating any threat of a government shutdown until the fall …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Obama puts GOP in no mood to deal  —  President Barack Obama extended a fiscal olive branch to Republicans on Wednesday.  Then he beat them up with it.  —  Obama's long-anticipated speech on the deficit at George Washington University was one of the oddest rhetorical hybrids of his presidency …

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.

Gov. Walker Gets Some Awkward Questions  —  Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker faced some awkward questions during his much-anticipated testimony Thursday before the House Oversight Committee. … Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) had intended the hearing to focus on state and municipal debt …

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 …

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.

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?

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.

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 …

GWU Suicide Tragically Coincides with Obama Speech  —  George Washington University students in Washington, D.C. learned of a tragic coincidence of timing on their campus Wednesday.  As President Obama delivered a speech on deficit reduction in the Jack Morton Auditorium …

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.

Marijuana causes global warming, uses 1% of U.S. electricity  —  People growing marijuana indoors use 1 percent of the U.S. electricity supply, and they create 17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year (not counting the smoke exhaled) according to a report by Evan Mills …

16 Tons  — Contents © 1999-2010 by David Burge / Iowahawk.  —  For reprint inquiries, please contact Lynn Chu.  —  IOWAHAWK'S OTHER HAUNTS  —  BLURBS  — Het Vrije Volk (Netherlands)  —  “Laat de rijken de crisis betalen, zegt de SP.  Let's eat de rich, zegt Michael Moore.

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.

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.

ABC News Exclusive: Pat Tillman's Mom Wants General Stanley McChrystal Removed From White House Post  —  ABC News' Jake Tapper reports:  —  President Obama appointed retired General Stanley McChrystal to co-chair a commission on military families this week, but according to perhaps …