memeorandum: How to talk about a woman's looks (Irin Carmon/Salon)

6:40 PM ET, April 5, 2013

Top Items:

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

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 …

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

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

Politico:
Boehner rejects Obama cuts-revenue proposal

Discussion: The Fix, CNN, Firedoglake, First Read and CBS News

Paul Krugman:
Desperately Seeking “Serious” Approval

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, msnbc.com and Yahoo! News

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Bad News Friday

Discussion: A plain blog about politics and Washington Monthly

Associated Press:
Obama Budget Proposes Social Security Cuts

Discussion: Associated Press, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, The Hinterland Gazette, Talking Points Memo, CANNONFIRE, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Balloon Juice

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Obama's Budget Includes $800 Billion Tax Hike, $7.3 Trillion in New Debt

Discussion: Business Insider

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Obama Budget: Administration Explains Why It Started With A ‘Compromise Proposal’

Discussion: Yahoo! News, New York Times and Hot Air

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Lawmakers, progressives blast Obama's expected proposal to cut entitlements

Discussion: The Plum Line, Reuters and Politico

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Obama budget would cut entitlements in exchange for tax increases

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Reuters, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, Post Politics, National Review, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, susiemadrak.com and Prairie Weather

Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:

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: Yahoo! News, New York Magazine, Mediaite, PostPartisan and Post Politics

Irin Carmon / Salon:

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: Talking Points Memo, Slate, Washington Monthly, Gawker, New York Magazine, Mediaite, PostPartisan, CNN, Washington Free Beacon and JustOneMinute

Justin Sink / The Hill:

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

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Obama apologizes to Kamala Harris

Discussion: Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and CNN

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
Obama rekindles talk about boys club after comment about California attorney general

Discussion: Yahoo! News, The Caucus, Taylor Marsh, All Things Democrat, Washington Times, The Fix, NewsBusters blogs, White House Dossier, Shakesville and BuzzFeed

Alexander Burns / Politico:

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

Alan B. Krueger / White House.gov Blog:

The Employment Situation in March — While more work remains to be done, today's employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are helping …

Discussion: Hot Air, Real Time Economics, The Week, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette, PJ Media, Twitchy, Michelle Malkin, White House Dossier and Post Politics

Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:
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, The Gateway Pundit and Power Line

James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
Heading backward: The miserable March jobs report

Discussion: Hot Air and protein wisdom

Jethro Mullen / CNN:

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

Discussion: World News, BBC, The Week, Weasel Zippers, NO QUARTER USA NET, AEIdeas and Piers Morgan

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:

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

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:

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

Facebook:
Senator Joe Donnelly · 3,458 like this

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Politico, msnbc.com, ThinkProgress, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Weasel Zippers, The National Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and Towleroad News #gay

Pam Belluck / New York Times:

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.

Discussion: CNN, LifeNews.com, RH Reality Check, The Week, Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, Joe. My. God., Taylor Marsh, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, americanthinker.com, Gawker, The Volokh Conspiracy, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Feministing

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

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 …

CBN.com:
The Brody File: At Home With Rand Paul - April 4, 2013

Discussion: Business Insider, Roll Call and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Katie Glueck / Politico:

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

Allen Reed / The Eagle:

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.

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano / Fox News:

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, Fox News Insider, Hit & Run, The Jawa Report and TVNewser

Steven Nelson / US News:

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

David Skolnick / Vindicator:

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, Politico, Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Caller

Brian Hughes / Washington Examiner:

Democrats have doubts about Obamacare too … President Obama is eager to build public support for his health care overhaul in the few months remaining before its implementation, but waning enthusiasm from Democrats threatens his effort right out of the gate.

Discussion: Questions and Observations and americanthinker.com

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Urge to Purge — When the Great Depression struck, many influential people argued that the government shouldn't even try to limit the damage. According to Herbert Hoover, Andrew Mellon, his Treasury secretary, urged him to “Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers. ...