Obama: GOP tried to “sneak” agenda into budget  —  In what he thought was a private chat with campaign donors Thursday evening, President Obama offered the most revealing behind-the-scenes account to date of his budget negotiations with GOP leaders last week.

Who's Serious Now?  —  Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, sounds upset.  And you can see why: President Obama, to the great relief of progressives, has called his bluff.  —  Last week, Mr. Ryan unveiled his budget proposal, and the initial reaction of much of the punditocracy …

Drama erupts on House floor as conservative budget goes down  —  House lawmakers defeated a proposal by conservative Republicans to make deeper cuts to spending and tax rates than those proposed in the Republican budget, but only after last-minute maneuvering by Democrats on the House floor.

Trump takes the lead  —  Only 38% of Republican primary voters say they're willing to support a candidate for President next year who firmly rejects the birther theory and those folks want Mitt Romney to be their nominee for President next year.  With the other 62% of Republicans- 23% of whom …

Atlas Shrugged  —  I feel like my arm is all warmed up and I don't have a game to pitch.  I was primed to review “Atlas Shrugged.”  I figured it might provide a parable of Ayn Rand's philosophy that I could discuss.  For me, that philosophy reduces itself to: “I'm on board; pull up the lifeline.”

Jon Huntsman's love letters  —  Jon Huntsman, President Obama's outgoing ambassador to China, is considering running against his boss in 2012 as a Republican.  —  But two handwritten letters from Huntsman obtained by The Daily Caller raise the question of why he's not campaigning for Obama instead.

Obama Is Likely to Lose  —  But Republican unseriousness may be his trump card.  —  Suppose everything we think we know about the president's political position is wrong?  That's what I think became clear this week.  —  You know the conventional wisdom.

Libya conflict: Nato summit fails to secure new planes  —  Nato's Anders Fogh Rasmussen: “Gaddafi will continue to attack his own population”  —  A Nato meeting of foreign ministers on Libya has ended without a commitment from allies to send more strike planes.

Arizona birther bill in Gov. Jan Brewer's hands  —  Arizona's birther bill has cleared the state legislature and is headed to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's desk.  —  After it easily cleared the state Senate Wednesday, the Arizona House on Thursday night voted 40-16 in favor …

Then They Came for Dana Milbank  —  For the past 20 years, as the U.S. middle class has quietly collapsed, Dana Milbank has made a great living as a media liberal who constantly ridicules liberals.  But recently it seemed as though he'd suddenly noticed something was going on.  Why?

This Lady Liberty Is a Las Vegas Teenager  —  As if further proof were needed that New York is not the center of the universe.  —  The United States Postal Service has issued a new stamp featuring the Statue of Liberty.  Only the statue it features is not the one in the harbor …

How the Ice in Your Drink is Imperiling the Planet  —  Want to save the Earth?  Easy, just buy a couple of ice trays.  To the long list of human inventions that are wrecking global climate—the internal combustion engine, the industrial era factory—add the automatic ice maker.