Obama to unveil $3.77 trillion spending plan  —  President Obama plans Wednesday to unveil a $3.77 trillion spending plan that proposes modest new investments in infrastructure and education, major new taxes for the wealthy and significant reforms aimed at reducing the cost of Social Security and Medicare.

President Obama's risky ‘goodwill’ gambit  —  To Obama, curbing entitlement growth has never been a core priority — it's more a means to an end — and the liberal rage against the CPI plan is useful only up to a point:  —  It makes his CPI plan seem like a major concession instead of the minor baby step Republicans claim it is.

Rand Paul: GOP must reconnect with African Americans  —  (CNN) - Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who's considering a 2016 presidential bid, made a pitch for his party Wednesday at the historically black Howard University, arguing why the GOP and African Americans should fall in the same column.

Rand Paul Ducks Record On Race In Awkward Howard Speech  —  As Rand Paul told it, the biggest problem keeping African Americans from voting Republican is that they didn't know Republicans have long been leaders on abolition and civil rights.  As students at Howard University heard it …

Rand Paul: 'I've Never Been Against The Civil Rights Act.  Ever.'  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a proponent of civil liberties, told a professor on Wednesday that he never opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  —  “I've never been against the Civil Rights Act.