Top Items:

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
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Gun control, immigration and budget talks: Is there a thaw in Washington?
Discussion:
The Fix, Post Politics and Wonkblog

GOP says Obama's budget blows chance of ‘grand bargain’
Discussion:
Politico, Red Alert Politics, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and USA Today

House GOP campaign chief: Obama budget is ‘shocking attack’ on seniors
Discussion:
Politico, Mediaite, First Read and The Fix

White House confirms: Obama Budget Contains Middle Class Income Tax Hike

5 things Republicans should like about Obama's new budget
Discussion:
New York Times, Economix, Hullabaloo and Taegan Goddard's …

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


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
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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

Gun bill gets a big boost from Toomey — President Obama hailed the agreement, crafted by Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), as a sign of “welcome and significant bipartisan progress.” The National Rifle Association (NRA) quickly denounced the bill.


Where's Mitch McConnell? — For the fifth time in just two months, Democrats hope to win a showdown procedural vote in the Senate Thursday morning — a burst of momentum which is beginning to raise fragile hopes of a bipartisan revival. — Gun control legislation is the immediate issue …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, CNN, The Spectacle Blog and Taylor Marsh


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, Reuters and The Reaction
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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?


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 and Washington Monthly
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Rand Paul Ducks Record On Race In Awkward Howard Speech
Discussion:
The Week, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Hit & Run, Mediaite, Esquire, Little Green Footballs and National Review

Rand Paul: GOP must reconnect with African Americans
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Politico


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 …
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Labour must search for answers and not merely aspire to be a repository for people's anger — The centre has not shifted to the left, says Tony Blair. Labour must resist the easy option of tying itself to those forces whose anti-Tory shouts are loudest.
Discussion:
Spectator, Daily Mail, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Guardian


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

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


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 …

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, The Daily Caller, JustOneMinute and ThinkProgress

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 …

Michelle Obama: ‘Hadiya Pendleton was me, and I was her’ — First lady Michelle Obama held back tears Wednesday as she took a rare step into political debate, urging action to combat violence among young people in her hometown of Chicago and going so far as to suggest that she could have lost her life in urban violence.
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette and Weasel Zippers
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First lady chokes up during speech on gun violence in Chicago
Discussion:
CNN


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