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In Obama Budget, Social Programs Face a Cutback — WASHINGTON — President Obama next week will take the political risk of formally proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare in his annual budget in an effort to demonstrate his willingness to compromise with Republicans and revive prospects …
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Left Furious With Obama For Backing Social Security Cuts — Liberals are mounting strong criticisms of President Obama amid news that his budget will include a Social Security benefit cut — an official endorsement of a policy compromise he's offered Republicans for years …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and The Reaction


Boehner rejects Obama cuts-revenue proposal
Discussion:
The Fix, Firedoglake, Post Politics, CNN, First Read and CBS News

Desperately Seeking “Serious” Approval
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Hullabaloo, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, msnbc.com, Crooks and Liars and Yahoo! News

Bad News Friday
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A plain blog about politics and Washington Monthly


Obama Budget: Administration Explains Why It Started With A ‘Compromise Proposal’
Discussion:
New York Times, Yahoo! News, Hot Air and Daily Kos


Why Obama's ‘Best-Looking Attorney General’ Comment Was a Gaffe — The system of beauty, the system of power, and Kamala Harris — President Obama's biggest gaffe yesterday when speaking of California Attorney General Kamala Harris was not in flirtatiously complimenting her as …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Yahoo! News, Mediaite and PostPartisan
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How to talk about a woman's looks — The president of the United States fails the test — again — There were, perhaps, stupider things said recently than “How did it become so difficult to call a woman good-looking in public?” but I didn't happen to hear them. So congratulations, Dylan Byers of Politico.
Discussion:
Slate, Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, Gawker, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, PostPartisan, CNN and JustOneMinute

Obama apologizes to ‘best-looking’ attorney general, Kamala Harris — President Obama called California Attorney General Kamala Harris to apologize after referring to her as “the best-looking attorney general” during a Democratic fundraiser on Thursday. — “The president did speak …
Discussion:
Politico

Obama apologizes to Kamala Harris
Discussion:
Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and CNN


Ben Carson apologizes to Johns Hopkins — Maryland neurosurgeon Ben Carson, the nationally celebrated physician who has become a political lightning rod in recent weeks after his criticism of President Barack Obama and gay marriage, sent an apologetic email Friday to the Johns Hopkins …
Discussion:
CNN, ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hinterland Gazette and Mediaite


Heading backward: The miserable March jobs report — It would take superspin powers to portray the March jobs report as anything other than a huge step in the wrong direction. The US economy added just 88,000 jobs last month, 95,000 in the private sector as public payrolls fell by 7,000.
Discussion:
Rush Limbaugh, Hot Air and protein wisdom
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People Not In Labor Force Soar By 663,000 To 90 Million, Labor Force Participation Rate At 1979 Levels
Discussion:
CNN, National Review, TheBlaze.com, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit and Maggie's Farm


Conservative Democrats Take Joint Plunge On Gay Marriage — North Dakota's Heitkamp and Indiana's Donnelly decided to support marriage equality together. — Image by Will Kincaid, File / AP — WASHINGTON — While America was talking about the latest unemployment numbers Friday …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Taylor Marsh and The Dish
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Two more Democratic senators endorse gay marriage
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The National Memo and Tampa Bay Times


Condom scientist hits Hannity comment — The lead scientist of a federally funded condom research study is firing back at Fox News commentator Sean Hannity and other conservatives after they charged that the $423,000 project was wasteful spending. — “I would tell Sean …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Raw Story and Weekly Standard

Judge Orders Morning-After Pill Available for All Ages — A federal judge has ruled that the Unites States government must make the most common morning-after pill available over the counter for all ages, instead of requiring a prescription for girls 16 and under.


Embassies face decisions as tensions rise in North Korea — South Korean soldiers stand guard at a sentry post at the border with North Korea in the Demilitarized Zone near Imjingak, South Korea, on April 5, , as tensions have mounted on the Korean Peninsula. — HIDE CAPTION
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Yahoo! News, World News, BBC, The Week, Weasel Zippers, NO QUARTER USA NET, AEIdeas and Piers Morgan
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Rand Paul: Defenders of DOMA are going to ‘lose that battle’ — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that conservatives fighting to uphold the federal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman are going to “lose that battle.” — Paul suggested in an interview on the Christian Broadcasting Network …
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Texas A&M student body president to veto ‘Religious Funding Exemption Bill’ — Texas A&M student body president John Claybrook has vetoed legislation from the student senate aimed at letting students opt out of funding the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Resource Center …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.


Hill staff rages as LegiStorm gets personal — LegiStorm editor Garrett Snedeker said on Thursday that the service has long compiled all kinds of data, including travel and finances, about staffers and members of Congress. — “Probably the biggest thing I'd like to stress is LegiStorm publishes …
Discussion:
Firedoglake


CNN Looking To Revive ‘Crossfire’ — CNN is looking to bring back “Crossfire,” TVNewser hears. The long-running political debate show was canceled in 2005. — It isn't entirely clear what time the program would air, though we hear it would likely be a 30-minute format.
Discussion:
Politico and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

The Dark Side of Verbs-as-Nouns — In my previous essay, I wrote about nominalization — the deployment as nouns of words we mostly expect to encounter as verbs or adjectives. Aware of many people's tendency to vilify this kind of usage, I speculated about the psychology behind it.


FoxNews.com's Jana Winter should be praised, not threatened with jail time — While the press in Colorado is consumed with its coverage of the capital murder prosecution of James Holmes for the slaughter he perpetrated in a movie theater in the town of Aurora on July 20, 2012 …
Discussion:
CNN, Hit & Run, Fox News Insider, The Jawa Report and TVNewser


The Associated Press Revises Another Politically Charged Term — Stylebook entry for ‘Islamist’ revised two days after ‘illegal immigrant’ dropped — Following on the heels of the Tuesday decision by The Associated Press to discontinue use of the term “illegal immigrant,” …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, BizPac Review, Weasel Zippers and National Review

Worry about government secrecy, Woodward tells Youngstown crowd — After four decades of being one of the nation's best known and widely respected journalists, you'd think Bob Woodward has seen it all. — “But I wake up every morning haunted by what we don't know,” he said Thursday …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's …, Politico and The Daily Caller


Pope Francis calls for action on clerical sex abuse — The remarks were made in the new Pope's first public statement on the clerical sex abuse issue — Pope Francis has called for “decisive action” in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priests. — He told Bishop Gerhard Mueller …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and KUOW