memeorandum: Russell Brand on Margaret Thatcher: ‘I always felt sorry for her children’ (Russell Brand/Guardian)

5:35 PM ET, April 10, 2013

Top Items:

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

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.

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Plum Line, The National Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Arthur Delaney / The Huffington Post:

Grover Norquist: Chained CPI Violates Taxpayer Protection Pledge — WASHINGTON — Members of Congress who have pledged never to raise taxes will be breaking their promise if they support changing how the government measures inflation for Social Security and tax purposes.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

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

Discussion: Firedoglake, Americans for Tax Reform … and National Review

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Obama's New Budget: A Final Gesture Of Good Faith To GOP

Discussion: The Plum Line and Prairie Weather

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Obama Seeks Compromise in Mix of Cuts and Spending

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hit & Run, New Republic, The White House, Business Insider, Economix, Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, The Agonist, Campaign for America's Future, msnbc.com and GOP.com

Ashley Killough / CNN:

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.

Discussion: Politico

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Howard Students Didn't Totally Hate Rand Paul — Paul's speech at the historically black college didn't get a lot of converts, but the students were glad to listen. — Image by Aron Heller, FILE / AP — WASHINGTON — Senator Rand Paul's speech at Howard University certainly didn't recruit a lot of new Republicans.

Discussion: Washington Wire and The Hinterland Gazette

Talking Points Memo:

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.

Discussion: Esquire, ThinkProgress and The National Memo

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

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Mediaite

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box: Paul: 'I've never wavered in my support for civil rights or the Civil Rights Act'

Rand Paul / Reason:
The Republican Party and the African-American Vote

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Post Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog and alicublog

Adam Serwer / Mother Jones:
At Howard University, Rand Paul Falsely Claims He Never Opposed 1964 Civil Rights Act

Discussion: Washington Monthly and THEROOT.COM

Jonathan Van Meter / New York Times:

Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin's Post-Scandal Playbook — One day in early February, I met Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin for breakfast at the Gramercy Park Hotel, one of their regular joints, just a few blocks from their apartment on Park Avenue South. The first thing Weiner said when I sat …

Politico:

Senators unveil deal on background checks — Sens. Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey unveiled a bipartisan deal to expand background checks for commercial gun purchases — including those at gun shows and online — Wednesday morning, opening a pathway for the biggest change in U.S. gun laws in nearly two decades.

Discussion: CNN, Hit & Run, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh, The Spectacle Blog, JustOneMinute and New Republic

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

In Blow To NRA, Senators Reach Bipartisan Agreement Expanding Background Checks — A bipartisan duo of senators with A ratings from the National Rifle Associated have reached a deal to expand background checks to private gun purchases that occur in commercial settings.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and p m carpenter's commentary

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:

NRA Says Background Check Compromise Won't Work — Sen. Manchin's office said Wednesday morning that the gun lobby was “neutral” on their bill. But an NRA statement released on the heels of a Manchin press conference says background checks don't work. [Updated] — Senator Joe Manchin (D-WVA)

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Weasel Zippers and The Hinterland Gazette

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Senators Reach Bipartisan Deal on Checks of Gun Buyers

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Above the Law, Hit & Run and Addicting Info

Meredith Shiner / Roll Call:
Toomey Refused to Have Schumer at Gun Deal Presser

Discussion: The Plum Line, Hot Air and Prairie Weather

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
NRA rejects deal on background checks

Discussion: protein wisdom

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Republican Congressman Cites Biblical Great Flood To Say Climate Change Isn't Man-Made — “If you believe in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change. That certainly wasn't because man had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy.” — View Video ›

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Raw Story, ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, AMERICAblog, Booman Tribune, The BRAD BLOG and p m carpenter's commentary

Wall Street Journal:

The GOP's Gun Control Misfire — The filibuster threat is giving political cover to Senate Democrats. — 'This is about these families and families all across the country who are saying, 'Let's make it a little harder for our kids to get gunned down,'" President Obama declared Monday …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, CNN, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, Roll Call, The Huffington Post, National Review, Betsy's Page, TheBlaze.com and msnbc.com

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Who likes taxes? Democrats, and no one else.

Discussion: Reuters, USA Today, The Hill, Weekly Standard, Business Insider and Ballot Box

Glen Stubbe Updated / Hot Dish Politics:

Photos: Bachmann aides hustle her out of Medicaid press conference — Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and State Senator Sean Nienow (R-Cambridge) held a joing news conference to discuss problems with Medicaid reimbursement rates paid to doctors in Minnesota. Both are introducing legislation increasing accountability and transparency.

Discussion: The Raw Story

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Bachmann Hustled Out Of Press Conference When Asked About Ethics Problems

Discussion: FishbowlDC and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Joel Connelly / Strange Bedfellows:

AG sues florist who refused flowers to gay wedding — State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Tuesday filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Arlene's Flowers & Gifts, a Richland florist that refused to supply flowers to the same-sex marriage of a longtime customer.

Discussion: NOM Blog, Los Angeles Times, Gawker, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers and Towleroad News #gay

Lornet Turnbull / The Seattle Times:
State sues florist over refusing service for gay wedding

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Advocate and Fox News

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:

Mitch McConnell aide: ‘Gestapo’ tactics — Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign manager charged Wednesday that whoever obtained audio of the Kentucky Republican's strategists discussing opposition research on Ashley Judd was engaging in “Gestapo kind of scare tactics.”

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

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:

Cheney to GOP leaders: 'We're in deep doo doo' on North Korea — (CNN) - Republican leaders in Congress received a dire warning on Tuesday from former Vice President Dick Cheney on the ongoing crisis in North Korea. — “We're in deep doo doo,” Cheney told lawmakers, according to a GOP leadership aide.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Global Public Square, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hill

Andrei Lankov / New York Times:
Stay Cool. Call North Korea's Bluff.

Discussion: CNN, Guardian, msnbc.com, The Hill, The Week and Global Public Square

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

First lady chokes up during speech on gun violence in Chicago — Michelle Obama on Wednesday choked up as she delivered an impassioned speech about gun violence in her hometown of Chicago. — The first lady became emotional as she talked about addressing the classmates of Hadiya Pendleton …

Discussion: Politico, CNN and Weasel Zippers

Nathan Freed Wessler / ACLU:

New Documents Suggest IRS Reads Emails Without a Warrant — Everyone knows the IRS is our nation's tax collector, but it is also a law enforcement organization tasked with investigating criminal violations of the tax laws. New documents released to the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act reveal …

Discussion: The Hill, The Raw Story, TechCrunch and emptywheel

Tina Rosenberg / Opinionator:

The Power of Talking to Your Baby — By the time a poor child is one year old, she has most likely already fallen behind middle-class children in her ability to talk, understand and learn. The gap between poor children and wealthier ones widens each year, and by high school it has become a chasm.

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:

Montana House Votes To Repeal Unconstitutional Sodomy Law — Just now, the Montana House held its third and final vote on SB 107, a bill to repeal the state's unconstitutional sodomy law. The final vote was 64-36, meaning there were still 36 lawmakers who believes that gay sex should remain criminal under law.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay