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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.
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Paul Ryan Accidentally Says He Is “Destroying The Health Care System” — Oops. — “This is something we will not give up on because we are not going to give up on destroying the health care system for the American people.” — View Video › — House Budget Committee Chairman …
Discussion:
The Hill, Liberal Values and Crooks and Liars

Senate Democrats pepper Obama with questions on entitlements — Liberal Democrats challenged President Obama on Tuesday over his willingness to cut Social Security benefits. — At a meeting that lasted just less than 90 minutes, Obama was peppered by questions from Sens. Tom Harkin …
Discussion:
Politico and The Political Carnival

President Obama Won't Balance Budget ‘Just for the Sake of Balance’ — In an exclusive interview with ABC News, President Obama rejected calls to balance the federal budget in the next ten years and instead argued that his primary economic concern was not balancing the budget, but rather growing the economy.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Weasel Zippers, BuzzFeed, Post Politics and CNN

Obama: Goal is not ‘balanced budget just for the sake of balance’
Discussion:
The Last Refuge and Jared Bernstein


Obama meets with not-quite-united Senate Democrats
Discussion:
Reuters, Not the Singularity and Daily Kos

Humility or Cynicism? Whatever is Driving Obama is Better Than Nothing

Senate Democrats' budget includes nearly $1 trillion in new taxes
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, CNN and InsideClimate News

Unleash Paul Ryan!
Discussion:
Ross Douthat, Guardian, The Week, Roll Call, Taegan Goddard's … and Outside the Beltway

McConnell: Obama's delayed budget like dropping a ‘bomb’ on legislative process
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Post Politics and Washington Post


The troubling things I learned when I re-reported Bob Woodward's book on John Belushi. — John Belushi in Animal House, 1978 Courtesy of Universal Pictures — A little more than a week ago, during an interview with Politico, Bob Woodward came forward to claim he'd been threatened in an email by a …
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll, Capital New York, The Impolitic, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run and Unfogged, more at Mediagazer »

George P. Bush running for Texas land commissioner — AUSTIN — George Prescott Bush filed the official paperwork Tuesday to run for Texas land commissioner next year, hoping to use a little-known but powerful post to continue his family's political dynasty in one of the country's most-conservative states.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
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Partisan ‘mistrust’ fueled voting rights fights at Justice Dept.
Discussion:
Politico


Sources: NRA won't oppose background check deal - if Democrats cede tough records fight — Senators negotiating a bill mandating background checks for all gun buyers are privately expecting the National Rifle Association not to fight the measure — provided the legislation does …
Discussion:
US News, Mother Jones and Daily Kos
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Some Gun Measures Broadly Backed But the Politics Show an Even Split
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Hot Air and Daily Kos


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, Crooks and Liars, NewsBusters, BuzzFeed, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
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See the Adams Morgan Sinkhole — The message from AlertDC was pretty ominous: “MPD reports a large sink hole in the 1900 block of Biltmore Street NW. The sink hole is described as 25 feet deep and expanding from east to west. Biltmore Street is closed between 19th Street and Cliffbourne Pl NW.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Politico


Ukrainian Attack Dolphins on the Loose — If you're swimming in the Black Sea, beware dolphins with weapons strapped to their heads. — flickr/mr_t_in_dc — Dolphin scientist Justin Gregg brings us this slightly disturbing, if hilarious, bit of Delphic news.
Discussion:
Gawker and FP Passport
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Ukrainian Killer Dolphins Deserted to Seek Mates - Expert
Discussion:
PIX 11 and Business Insider

FRC: No Right to Have Sex Outside of Marriage, Society Should ‘Punish It’ — Family Research Council senior fellow Pat Fagan appeared alongside Tony Perkins, the head of FRC, on Washington Watch yesterday to discuss his article which claims that Eisenstadt v. Baird, the 1972 case that overturned …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Raw Story and Joe. My. God.


Cleanup in aisle 1: Teen's ‘mourners’ trash Brooklyn shops — A vigil for a teenager fatally shot by cops turned into a riot in Brooklyn last night, as a mob of outraged thugs ransacked stores, broke car windows and assaulted residents in East Flatbush. — The chaos erupted …
Discussion:
CBS New York, Gothamist, The Gateway Pundit and Right Wing News
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NLRB To Seek Supreme Court Review in Noel Canning v. NLRB — The National Labor Relations Board has determined not to seek en banc rehearing in Noel Canning v. NLRB, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit held that the January 4, 2012 recess appointments of three members to the Board were invalid.
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog, Hit & Run and The Volokh Conspiracy


Fox News Anchor Shouts Down Criticism Of Ryan Budget — Fox News host Bill Hemmer tried to shout down Rep. Chris Van Hollen's (D-MD) criticism of the GOP budget on Tuesday morning by loudly reading from Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) editorial promoting the newly-released Republican plan.
Discussion:
Wonkblog, PostPartisan and The Plum Line


‘Killing Jews Is Worship’ Ad Campaign Rolled Out On SF Muni Buses — SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) - A controversy has been re-ignited this week as ten new ads go up on San Francisco Muni buses containing quotes used by terrorists. — “Killing Jews is worship that draws us closer to Allah,” …
Discussion:
Power Line, protein wisdom, Israel Matzav and The PJ Tatler

Missed chance: Obama's tax problem — President Obama faces huge, and probably insurmountable, obstacles to reviving a grand bargain — none higher and more difficult to overcome than his decision to increase taxes by $600 billion in December. — At the time, Obama claimed victory …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers


Soda Wars Backlash: Mississippi Passes ‘Anti-Bloomberg’ Bill … Mayor Mike and his public health edicts are having a rough ride. — On Monday, a state judge in Manhattan struck down New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's rule capping soda sizes. And lawmakers in Mississippi are taking …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, Colorlines, The Daily Caller, National Review and Gothamist

State Rep. Says Robocalls About Taking ‘Homosexual Money’ Are Offensive — CHICAGO — A conservative Chicago-based political action committee is telling Downstate voters to ask a legislator to vote against the proposed marriage equality bill, saying children raised by same-sex couples will “never know their real parents.”
Discussion:
The Raw Story


NARTH Loses Tax Exempt Status — In September 2012, the tax exempt status of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) was revoked due to failure to file Form 990 for three consecutive years. The notice of revocation was yesterday according to the IRS website.
Discussion:
The Raw Story and Joe. My. God.

Politics by Intimidation — Three days before the December massacre in Newtown, Conn., a 22-year-old gunman named Jacob Tyler Roberts opened fire at the Clackamas Town Center, a suburban shopping mall in Portland, Ore. He killed two people before killing himself, though it could have been much worse.
Discussion:
msnbc.com