memeorandum: Ben Carson steps down as Hopkins commencement speaker (Andrea K. Walker/Baltimore Sun)

10:05 AM ET, April 11, 2013

Top Items:

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Obama: White House dinner with GOP senators ‘constructive’ — President Obama “enjoyed a constructive and wide-ranging discussion” over dinner with Republican senators on Wednesday night, White House officials said. — During the dinner, which lasted two-and-half-hours …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Politico and CNN

Washington Post:
Gun control, immigration and budget talks: Is there a thaw in Washington?

Discussion: The Fix, Post Politics and Wonkblog

Politico:
President Obama's risky ‘goodwill’ gambit

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Brooklynbadboy / Daily Kos:
'We won't have the White House forever, folks!'

Discussion: Eschaton

Washington Times:
GOP says Obama's budget blows chance of ‘grand bargain’

Discussion: Politico, Red Alert Politics, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and USA Today

Erik Wasson / Ballot Box:
House GOP campaign chief: Obama budget is ‘shocking attack’ on seniors

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, First Read and The Fix

John Kartch / Americans for Tax Reform RSS:
White House confirms: Obama Budget Contains Middle Class Income Tax Hike

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Wall Street Journal, Addicting Info, The Huffington Post, Americans for Tax Reform …, Firedoglake, CANNONFIRE, NewsBusters blogs, Hullabaloo and Washington Monthly

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:
Paul Ryan Stumped: Can't Name A Single Area Of Compromise In His Budget

Discussion: Center for American Progress, msnbc.com, The Plum Line and The People's View

Andrew Stiles / National Review:
Ryan Open to Chained CPI

Discussion: Mother Jones and Daily Kos

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Veterans poll: 91 percent back gun checks — The vast majority of veterans support universal background checks, a new poll shows. — According to a survey commissioned by the organization Vote Vets and the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund, 91 percent of veterans support requiring …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Kristina Peterson / Wall Street Journal:

Senate in Deal on Gun Checks — WASHINGTON—Senate lawmakers reached a bipartisan deal Wednesday to expand background checks for gun sales, bolstering support for one of President Barack Obama's top priorities following December's Newtown, Conn., school shooting.

Discussion: The Other McCain, New York Times and Heritage Action for America

Pat Toomey:

The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act — Bottom Line: The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act would require states and the federal government to send all necessary records on criminals and the violently mentally ill to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Discussion: Mother Jones, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, NPR, Clayton Cramer's Blog, BuzzFeed, Guardian, The Hill and Politico

Jesse Helfrich / The Hill:
Gun bill gets a big boost from Toomey

Discussion: The Week, Roll Call, msnbc.com, Washington Post, The Hill and Daily Kos

David Rogers / Politico:
Where's Mitch McConnell?

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, The Spectacle Blog and Taylor Marsh

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:

Top Republican Blasts Obama Budget As ‘Shocking Attack On Seniors’ — Remember those warnings about how instead of welcoming President Obama's adoption of Chained CPI, Republicans would continue to deny him a budget deal and attack him for proposing to cut Social Security?

Discussion: New York Times, The Fix, Business Insider, msnbc.com, Shakesville, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh, The Plum Line, The National Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Balloon Juice

The Week:
5 things Republicans should like about Obama's new budget

Discussion: The Caucus, Economix, Hullabaloo and Taegan Goddard's …

Andrea K. Walker / Baltimore Sun:

Ben Carson steps down as Hopkins commencement speaker … Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson stepped down Wednesday as commencement speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine after complaints from students about controversial comments concerning same-sex marriage.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN, The Daily Caller, Gawker, Reuters and The Reaction

Justin Sink / The Hill: Obama prayer breakfast critic will not speak at commencement

George Eaton / New Statesman:

Exclusive: Blair warns Miliband: offer answers, not outrage — The former prime minister says Labour must be more than “fellow travellers in sympathy” and warns it not to “tack left on tax and spending”. — In his statement on Margaret Thatcher's death earlier this week …

Discussion: BBC and Guardian

Tony Blair / New Statesman:
Labour must search for answers and not merely aspire to be a repository for people's anger

Discussion: Spectator, Daily Mail, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Guardian

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

Immigration, gun deals make Tea Party lawmakers restless — House conservatives are growing restless. — With bipartisan deals emerging on guns and immigration, Tea Party lawmakers in the lower chamber are warning their leaders to slow down. — Longtime immigration reform critic Rep. Steve King …

Adam Serwer / Mother Jones:

At Howard University, Rand Paul Falsely Claims He Never Opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act — Following an awkward, earnest speech to an audience at Howard University, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) insisted several times that he did not oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Discussion: Reason, THEROOT.COM, Mediaite, BuzzFeed, Esquire and Washington Monthly

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
Rand Paul Ducks Record On Race In Awkward Howard Speech

Discussion: Mediaite, The Week, The Lead with Jake Tapper, The National Memo, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Washington Wire and Little Green Footballs

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Rand Paul: GOP must reconnect with African Americans

Discussion: Ballot Box and Politico

Joseph Ryan / Chicago Tribune:

Daughter of former Obama pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright indicted … The daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — the controversial former pastor to President Barack Obama — was indicted today in an expanding federal probe of a state grant tied to a former suburban police chief.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, The Hinterland Gazette and americanthinker.com

New York Times:

Senators' Group Reaches Deal on Immigration — WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators has largely agreed on a broad immigration bill that would require tough border measures to be in place before illegal immigrants could take the first steps to become American citizens …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, National Review, msnbc.com, The Daily Caller, JustOneMinute and ThinkProgress

Associated Press:

Gun Shop Where Lanza's Mother Bought Bushmaster Shut Down For Selling To A Felon, Background Check Violations — EAST WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) — Federal authorities say a Connecticut gun shop that legally sold weapons used in the Newtown school shootings lost its federal firearms license …

Aron Heller / Associated Press:

Israel Detains Five Women For Wearing Prayer Shawls At Western Wall — JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Thursday detained five women at a Jerusalem holy site for performing religious rituals there that ultra-Orthodox Jews say are reserved for men. — The detentions come …

Jennifer Martinez / The Hill:

Facebook's Zuckerberg launches lobby group with push for immigration reform — A new lobby organization co-founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech executives launched on Thursday, focusing its efforts on rallying support for immigration reform.

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNN, Taylor Marsh and Mashable

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Democrats pressing federal regulators for documents related to shoddy foreclosures — Two congressional Democrats are pressing federal regulators to reconsider their decision to withhold documents related shoddy foreclosures. — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.) …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

David Corn and Mother Jones find themselves with another audio scoop — David Corn says one good scoop may have led to another. And might even lead to still others, too. — The Mother Jones magazine reporter and MSNBC pundit was busy Wednesday handling the fallout from, and some fawning over …

Discussion: Mother Jones, americanthinker.com, Althouse, The Reaction, Poynter and Law Blog

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Mitch McConnell aide: ‘Gestapo’ tactics

Discussion: First Read, CNN, Post Politics and Daily Kos

Luke Johnson / The Huffington Post:

Ken Cuccinelli Loses Petition To Uphold Anti-Sodomy Law — WASHINGTON — A court has denied Virginia Attorney General and 2013 gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli a full hearing to challenge a ruling that struck down the state's anti-sodomy statute as unconstitutional.

Discussion: Mother Jones and AMERICAblog