Top Items:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, neo-neocon, Prairie Weather, Connecting.the.Dots and Daily Kos
RELATED:
David Brooks / New York Times:
Ultimate Spoiler Alert — President Obama and Paul Ryan are two of the smartest, most admirable and most genial men in Washington. It is sad, although not strange, that in today's Washington they have never had a serious private conversation. The president has never invited Ryan over even for lunch.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Washington Post, National Review, Balloon Juice and Shakesville
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The David Brooks Lunch Date Plan For Solving America's Hard-Fought Fiscal Policy Dilemmas — If you asked me why the country can't come together over a long-term fiscal fix, I would say it has to do with the fact that Paul Ryan is an Ayn Rand devotée who wants to minimize taxes …
Benjy Sarlin / TPMDC:
Will Anyone Even Insure Seniors if Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan Passes? — At first glance, Paul Ryan's plan to send millions of seniors into the free market with dwindling vouchers in hand might seem a boon to the private insurance industry. But would companies even want to participate?
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Yglesias and FrumForum
CEPR:
Brooks Bemoans the Lack of a Free Lunch for Representative Ryan — That would be at the White House of course. Brooks is upset that: — “It is sad, although not strange, that in today's Washington they have never had a serious private conversation. The president has never invited Ryan over even for lunch.”
Discussion:
TalkLeft and Hullabaloo
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
The GOP Proposes ‘Obamacare’ For Seniors — Just Don't Tell Democrats Or Republicans That
The GOP Proposes ‘Obamacare’ For Seniors — Just Don't Tell Democrats Or Republicans That
Steven L. Taylor / Outside the Beltway:
The Ryan Plan's Political Problem
The Ryan Plan's Political Problem
Discussion:
The Mahablog and Balloon Juice
Tucker Reals / CBS News:
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.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Mediaite, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, The Caucus, The New Republic, The Gateway Pundit, The Moderate Voice, Washington Wire, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, TPMDC, Ben Smith's Blog, JammieWearingFool, FrumForum, Moe Lane, The Impolitic and Associated Press
RELATED:
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Unruly G.O.P. Puts Boehner to a Test in Budget Vote
Unruly G.O.P. Puts Boehner to a Test in Budget Vote
Discussion:
The Politico, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog News
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Obama address was surprise attack, GOP lawmakers say
Obama address was surprise attack, GOP lawmakers say
Discussion:
Moe Lane, TaxVox and neo-neocon
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
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.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, RedState, FrumForum and The Politico
RELATED:
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Pandemonium! Dems Jam Republicans With Even More Conservative Budget — What was supposed to be a routine vote in the House — to knock down an amendment authored by conservative Republicans — turned into pandemonium on the House floor Friday, as Democrats tried to jam the plan through, and hang it around the GOP's necks.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Weigel and Balloon Juice
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
White House to Gang of Six: Wrap up work on deficit-reduction plan
White House to Gang of Six: Wrap up work on deficit-reduction plan
Discussion:
Associated Press, Fox News, Pirate's Cove, FrumForum, New York Times and Fox Nation
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
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 …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Washington Monthly, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Kos, Wonkette, Taylor Marsh, Ballot Box and Weigel
RELATED:
George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:
Obama Exclusive: I Was Born in Hawaii and I Don't ‘Have Horns’
Obama Exclusive: I Was Born in Hawaii and I Don't ‘Have Horns’
Discussion:
Don Surber, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Mediaite, neo-neocon, Wonkette, FrumForum, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, JustOneMinute and MyDD
Jon Terbush / TPMDC:
Poll: Donald Trump Beating Entire GOP Field By 9 Points
Poll: Donald Trump Beating Entire GOP Field By 9 Points
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Swampland, Fox Nation and DownWithTyranny!
Roger Ebert / Chicago Sun Times:
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.”
Discussion:
Time, TalkLeft, Weigel, The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway, Hit & Run, Shakesville and American Power
RELATED:
The Daily Caller:
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.
Discussion:
GOP 12, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's … and msnbc.com
Wall Street Journal:
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.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
RELATED:
BBC:
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.
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Eunomia, New Atlanticist, Hot Air, Guardian and Pajamas Media
RELATED:
Alia Beard Rau / Arizona Republic:
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.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Salon, UrbanGrounds, Arizona Daily Star and Gawker
RELATED:
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Arizona birther bill in Gov. Jan Brewer's hands
Arizona birther bill in Gov. Jan Brewer's hands
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Towleroad News #gay and FrumForum
Jonathan Schwarz / A Tiny Revolution:
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?
New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
Boing Boing, Gothamist, AOL News, Reuters, nancynall.com and National Review
Anna M. Tinsley / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
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.
Discussion:
Ballot Box, The Politico, AmSpecBlog, Ron Paul 2012 and American Spectator
Economist:
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.
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner, The Atlantic Online and China Digital Times