memeorandum: Bill Bolling rejects run as independent in Virginia governor's race (Alexander Burns/Politico)

2:40 PM ET, March 12, 2013

Top Items:

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

Paul Ryan / Wall Street Journal:

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 …

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: American Prospect, Associated Press, Mario Piperni dot Com, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Fix, The Plum Line and Daily Kos

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Jared Bernstein and Campaign for America's Future

James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
Unleash Paul Ryan!

Discussion: Ross Douthat, Guardian and Outside the Beltway

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

Discussion: Econbrowser

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
McConnell: Obama's delayed budget like dropping a ‘bomb’ on legislative process

Discussion: Washington Post and Post Politics

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, Politico, A plain blog about politics, The Maddow Blog, The Caucus, msnbc.com, 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: CNN, The Hill, Right Turn, Hot Air, Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, National Review and The Daily Caller

Justin Sink / The Hill:

White House: Budget likely in early April — The White House confirmed Tuesday that their budget would likely come the week of April 8, two months after the deadline mandated by law. — White House press secretary Jay Carney said that the administration would “probably put out the budget …

Discussion: CNN

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

Discussion: 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

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Bill Bolling rejects run as independent in Virginia governor's race — Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling will not run for governor as an independent, clearing the way for what is expected to be a costly, divisive race between Republican state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli …

Discussion: Hot Air

Paul Steinhauser / CNN: Virginia's Bolling says no to indie run for gov.

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

Discussion: NBCNews.com, The Maddow Blog and Post Politics

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

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

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

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, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

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

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 and First Read

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

Hillel Aron / The Informer:

Are the Koch Brothers Trying to Buy the Los Angeles Times? — The latest rumor about the next owner of the L.A. Times, which is for sale, is a doozy. A bombshell. It's a doozy wrapped in a bombshell exploding inside a Drudge siren. — Multiple sources tell L.A. Weekly that Charles and David Koch …

Discussion: Salon, JIMROMENESKO.COM and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

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?

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

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

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