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.

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.

White House to Gang of Six: Wrap up work on deficit-reduction plan  —  Senate Democrats and the White House are pressuring Republican members of the Gang of Six to reach an agreement on a deficit-reduction package so it can be used as a credible alternative to the budget unveiled last week …

Arizona lawmakers OK requiring proof of citizenship to run for president  —  The Arizona Legislature has become the first in the nation to pass a measure requiring presidential candidates to provide proof of citizenship in order to get on the state's ballot.  —  House Bill 2177 got final approval Thursday night from the House.

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.

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?

Another one of Ron Paul's children may run for Congress  —  First it was just Ron Paul.  —  An obstetrician-gynecologist and libertarian-leaning Republican from Lake Jackson, Paul was elected to the U.S. House more than 20 years ago and maintains a devout following of those who share his anti-war, anti-tax, limited-government beliefs.

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 …

Obama Disappointed With Lack of ‘Cool’ Phone in Oval Office  —  WASHINGTON — Turns out President Obama would like a phone upgrade.  —  The president, in an unscripted moment with donors in Chicago, was talking about the need to innovate in technology.  —  “The Oval Office …

The rise and rise of the princelings, the country's revolutionary aristocracy  —  “THERE are some sour and smelly literati these days who are utterly abominable,” a retired military officer reportedly told a recent gathering in Beijing.  “They attack Chairman Mao and practise de-Maoification.

Unruly G.O.P. Puts Boehner to a Test in Budget Vote  —  WASHINGTON — It should have been a moment of victory for Speaker John A. Boehner and fellow members of a House Republican leadership team still learning on the job as they forced through a record level of spending cuts.  Instead, it felt a little like defeat.

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.