Why I don't back Ryan Medicare plan  —  As part of the 2012 budget discussions, Congress is dealing with Medicare reform.  This debate is long overdue, since its increasing cost must be addressed if we are serious about the nation's growing $14 trillion debt and $1.6 trillion annual deficit.

The Next President Isn't Currently Running (Updated)  —  There's no GOP operative for whom I have higher regard than former RNC chair and senior Bush advisor Ed Gillespie.  He deserves to be taken seriously when he says (according to Politico): “For all intents and purposes, the field is set.

The best-protected car in the world... defeated by an Irish ramp: Obama's limo ‘The Beast’ gets stuck at U.S. Embassy  — Red faces all round as President and First Lady forced to swap vehicles for trip to ancestral home  —  It's supposed to protect him from terror attacks but President Barack Obama …

Biden tells donors: Keep me in mind for 2016  —  Vice President Joe Biden surprised a gathering of donors in Cincinnati last week when he floated the prospect of his succeeding President Barack Obama in the White House.  —  Biden, who started in the Senate young and would be just 70 in 2012 …

Death Toll Rises to Nearly 100 From Missouri Tornado  —  JOPLIN, Mo. — Much of this southwestern Missouri city lay in ruins on Monday morning after a massive tornado, the latest storm to ravage the Midwest and South this spring, tore through the area, killing at least 90 people.

Gingrich: 'I'm not a Washington figure'  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) said he doesn't view himself as a “Washington figure,” positioning himself as an anti-D.C. candidate in his campaign for president.  —  Gingrich railed against the Washington, D.C. establishment …

Obama's achievement: the mouse that roared  —  I don't know what strategic purpose Obama had in mind for addressing the Middle East impasse when last Thursday he made the first of a series of speeches on the subject.  Whatever this may have been, that speech produced one satisfactory result.

Obama digging up dirt on potential opponent Chris Christie  —  President Obama's re-election campaign is trying to dig up dirt in the Garden State.  —  Despite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's repeated pronouncements that he will not seek the GOP presidential nomination …

Supreme Court orders California to release tens of thousands of prison inmates  —  The 5-4 decision represents one of the largest prison release orders in U.S. history.  The court majority says overcrowding has caused ‘suffering and death.’ In a sharp dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia warns ‘terrible things are sure to happen.’

Americans Still Split Along “Pro-Choice,” “Pro-Life” Lines  —  Majorities believe abortion is morally wrong, legal access to it should be restricted  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are closely divided between those calling themselves “pro-choice” and those who are “pro-life,” now 49% and 45% …

Pawlenty Campaign Already Dead?  —  Tim Pawlenty's hometown newspaper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, ran the story of his presidential campaign announcement on the Obituary page this morning, City Pages reports.

Truth outweighs consistency  —  Jon Huntsman was asked on Friday about his support for the Recovery Act, and the fact that in 2009, he wanted the stimulus to be bigger, not smaller.  —  Huntsman said his problem with the Recovery Act had to do with taxes.  “[M]y take was, let's stimulate business,” he told George Stephanopoulos.

If I Take Down Fox, Is All Forgiven?  —  David Brock has spent the last decade apologizing to liberals for his role in creating the vast right-wing conspiracy.  Now he's trying something more ambitious and hoping it gains him the respect he craves from the White House.

Is Donald Trump Back in the 2012 Race?  —  ABC News' Sheila Marikar and Rick Klein report: Perhaps Donald Trump didn't really bow out after all.  —  The billionaire business mogul phoned into Fox News' “Fox & Friends” this morning to lament the state of the Republican field.

Harold Camping ‘flabbergasted’; rapture a no-show  —  (05-22) 19:18 PDT ALAMEDA — The man who said the world was going to end appeared at his front door in Alameda a day later, very much alive but not so well.  —  “It has been a really tough weekend,” said Harold Camping …

When Austerity Fails  —  I often complain, with reason, about the state of economic discussion in the United States.  And the irresponsibility of certain politicians — like those Republicans claiming that defaulting on U.S. debt would be no big deal — is scary.

‘Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin,’ by former staffer Frank Bailey  —  By Frank Bailey with Ken Morris & Jeanne Devon  —  Howard.  383 pp.  $26  —  Frank Bailey joined Sarah Palin's campaign for governor of Alaska in its earliest days, showing up at her shabby headquarters in Anchorage with a paintbrush …