memeorandum: Finally: hear Bradley Manning in his own voice (Glenn Greenwald/Guardian)

1:50 PM ET, March 12, 2013

Top Items:

The GOP Plan to Balance the Budget by 2023 — The goal can be reached, with no new taxes, while increasing spending 3.4% annually instead of the current 5%. — America's national debt is over $16 trillion. Yet Washington can't figure out how to cut $85 billion—or just 2% of the federal budget …

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

Paul Ryan's budget: Social engineering with a side of deficit reduction — Here is Paul Ryan's path to a balanced budget in three sentences: He cuts deep into spending on health care for the poor and some combination of education, infrastructure, research, public-safety, and low-income programs.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Maddow Blog, The Daily Caller and Guardian

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:

Paul Ryan's make-believe budget — If Rep. Paul Ryan wants people to take his budget manifestos seriously, he should be honest about his ambition: not so much to make the federal government fiscally sustainable as to make it smaller. — You will recall that the Ryan Budget was a big Republican selling point in last year's election.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Fix, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Plum Line and Daily Kos

Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Paul Ryan budget slashes spending by $5.7 trillion to reach 10-year balance

Discussion: Econbrowser

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Ryan Budget Plan Aims to Roll Back Obama Agenda

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Campaign for America's Future

James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
Unleash Paul Ryan!

Discussion: Ross Douthat and Outside the Beltway

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

In President's Outreach to G.O.P., Past Failures Loom — WASHINGTON — For all the attention to President Obama's new campaign of outreach to Republicans, it was four months ago — on the eve of bipartisan budget talks — that he secretly invited five of them to the White House for a movie screening …

Discussion: PostPartisan, A plain blog about politics, Politico, The Maddow Blog, msnbc.com, The Caucus, The National Memo, Prairie Weather, TheBlaze.com and The Reaction

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

Humility or Cynicism? Whatever is Driving Obama is Better Than Nothing — Tumbling polls have turned the president into the schmoozer-in-chief — President Obama's burst of congressional and public outreach coincides with declining poll numbers. (AP Photo)

Discussion: Hot Air, Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, National Review and The Daily Caller

Politico:
Is he serious? — President Barack Obama's unusual tour …

Discussion: Washington Post and Right Wing News

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
McClatchy-Marist poll shows Obama tumbling in voters' eyes

Discussion: Post Politics and Hot Air

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
House and Senate Work Simultaneously to Create Budgets, a Rarity

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Steve Kornacki / Salon:

A reality check for Ashley Judd — What she's really up against, if she does run against Mitch McConnell in Kentucky. Inside the numbers and history — A report over the weekend suggested that actress Ashley Judd has decided to challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky next year.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, First Read and New Republic

Washington Examiner:
Byron York: Ted Cruz pushes for vote to stop funding for Obamacare

Discussion: Hit & Run

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Report: DSCC pulling back from Judd after Kentucky Senate polling shows her vulnerable

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Week, Politico, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Weasel Zippers, The Last Refuge, Post Politics and The Daily Caller

New York Post:

The ‘fair share’ White House — Those who make the rules should play by them. Especially a White House that lectures the rest of America about the importance of paying your “fair share” of taxes. — So we were struck by IRS reports that no fewer than 40 aides to President Obama still owe …

Roger Simon / Politico:
Save the sequester, crush the children!

Discussion: CNN, americanthinker.com, TheBlaze.com and The Hill

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

Virginia's Bolling says no to indie run for gov. — (CNN) - It's a two man race in this year's gubernatorial battle in Virginia. — Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling announced Tuesday that “after a great deal of consideration I have decided that I will not be an Independent candidate for Governor this year.”

Discussion: Politico

Bill Bolling:
Bolling Says No to Possible Independent Campaign for Governor

Discussion: NBCNews.com and Post Politics

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Rush Limbaugh Sides With Rand Paul: ‘The Neocons Are Paranoid’ — The most popular conservative demagogue in America signals that hawkish foreign policy dogma may be losing its hold on the GOP. — In the Spring of 2011, I wrote a widely ignored article arguing that the Republican Party's …

Discussion: Ross Douthat, The Dish, Mondoweiss and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Associated Press:

Sarah Palin tackles ‘War on Christmas’ in new book — ‘Amidst the fragility of this politically correct era, it is imperative that we stand up for our beliefs before the element of faith in a glorious and traditional holiday like Christmas is marginalized and ignored,’ Palin says.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, The Raw Story and Post Politics

Elizabeth Harrington / CNSNews:

Feds Spend $1.5 Million to Study Why Lesbians Are Fat — (CNSNews.com) - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $1.5 million to study biological and social factors for why “three-quarters” of lesbians are obese and why gay males are not, calling it an issue of “high public-health significance.”

Discussion: Althouse, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers

Steven Hayward / Power Line:

The Administrative State in One Photo — The then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (and may she remain forever a former Speaker) took a lot of ridicule during the debate over the passage of Obamacare when she said that we'd have to pass the bill to find out what's in it. I thought the critics had this all wrong.

Discussion: National Review

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters blogs:

Erin Burnett to Laura Bush: Should America Accept Anti-Semitism To Affect Change In Middle East? — CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday asked former first lady Laura Bush a truly disgusting question. — In a segment about the George W. Bush Institute's Women's Initiative Fellowship Program …

Discussion: The Jawa Report

CNN:
Laura Bush says some GOP candidates ‘frightened’ women

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

Officer Is Found Guilty in Cannibal Case — A New York police officer was convicted on Tuesday in a bizarre plot to kidnap, torture, kill and eat women. — The officer, Gilberto Valle, 28, could be sentenced to life in prison for one count of kidnapping conspiracy.

Discussion: The Raw Story

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:

Minnesota Legislator Interrupts Proceedings To Introduce Ex-Gay Friend — Debate on same-sex marriage will resume today in Minnesota as both the House Civil Law Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee host hearings on a proposed equality bill. The legislation already has enough support …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Outrageous!... Far Left Southern Poverty Law Center Puts “Singing Nuns” on Its Hate Groups Map — Outrageous... The far left Southern Poverty Law Center has once again put the “Singing Nuns” on its hate group map. — Here the Singing Nuns from Spokane sing “Ave Maria.” — A typical hate group, huh?

Eric Shawn / Fox News:

Cincinnati poll worker charged with voting half dozen times in November — She admitted voting twice in the presidential election last November, and now, Obama supporter Melowese Richardson has been indicted for allegedly voting at least six times. She also is charged with illegal voting in 2008 and 2011.

Discussion: WLWT-TV, Israel Matzav, Weasel Zippers, The Last Refuge and Michelle Malkin

New York Times:

For Detroit, a Crisis Born of Bad Decisions and Crossed Fingers — DETROIT — This city was already sinking under hundreds of millions of dollars in bills that it could not pay when a municipal auditor brought in a veteran financial consultant to dig through the books.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, National Review, The National Memo and The Other McCain

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Senate Judiciary panel approves Schumer bill on background checks — The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday passed Sen. Charles Schumer's universal background checks bill along party lines, ensuring the legislation will see a vote on the Senate floor. — Schumer once called background checks the …

Discussion: Politico

Beth Stebner / Daily Mail:

‘It sounds like a war zone’: Chaos in Brooklyn as 100 teenagers ‘riot’ on the streets following vigil of 16-year-old who was shot dead by NYPD plainclothes cops — Two plainclothes NYPD officers shot and killed a 16-year-old Brooklyn resident after police say he pointed a gun at officers on Saturday

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Wall Street Journal, The Last Refuge, nbcnewyork.com, Gawker, ThinkProgress and Jammie Wearing Fools

Matt Higgins / CBS DC:

Hamas: ‘Declaration Of War’ If Obama Visits Temple Mount — WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Hamas is warning that if President Obama visits the Temple Mount it would be a “declaration of war” against the Islamic world. — Israel National News reports the terror group made the threat during …

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:

Senate Dems Kick Off Efforts To Break GOP Filibuster Of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — On Tuesday, Democrats will use what would normally be a straightforward exercise of the Senate's advise and consent powers to begin a political campaign aimed at preserving one of the party's signature Obama-era accomplishments.

Discussion: Hullabaloo