On issues, public is more aligned with Obama than GOP  —  SETTING A NATIONAL AGENDA: WHAT NEEDS TO GET DONE THIS YEAR?  —  In a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll, Americans were asked how urgent it was for President Obama and Congress to pass major legislation on some top issues this year.

Obama Rated at 3-Year High in Poll, Republicans at Bottom  —  President Barack Obama enters the latest budget showdown with Congress with his highest job- approval rating in three years and public support for his economic message, while his Republican opponents' popularity stands at a record low.

Republicans Coalesce Around Clever Plan To Make Looming Spending Cuts Much Less Draconian  —  The GOP's emerging legislative fix to the sequester is both counterintuitive and clever.  But it probably won't force Democrats to abandon their insistence that the coming automatic cuts be replaced in part by new revenue.

Americans aren't buying what GOP is selling  —  A new Bloomberg National Poll shows President Obama's approval rating reaching a three-year high and public approval of Republicans reaching a three-year low.  The same poll found that a plurality of Americans blame the congressional GOP, not Democrats, for “what's wrong in Washington.”

Blaspheming Saint Romney  —  Until around the time Todd Akin blew up his Senate race, the conventional wisdom in campaign world was that if Romney won, he'd carry the House and the Senate as well.  That supposition underlay the GOP's entire substantive agenda from tax reform to entitlement cuts to repealing key provisions of Obamacare.

A Better Republican Sequester Strategy  —  Congressional Republicans are simultaneously united, divided and confused about the $85 billion of cuts in defense and domestic discretionary spending that begin on March 1 when the budget sequester takes effect.  —  Republicans are united …