Morning Read


FROM THE BLOGS:

Keep fighting the good fight, Rand Paul
Malou Innocent of Cato at Liberty urges the Tea Party senator to keep the pressure on the Obama administration over transparency.

Congress conspires to exempt itself from Obamacare
Erick Erickson of Red State says members of both parties plan on "sneaking" through legislation that would exempt them from the president's healthcare law.

No, Congress isn't trying to exempt itself from Obamacare
Not true, counters Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.

How drone strikes strengthen al-Qaeda


The American Conservative reports on a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on drone strikes.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Lawmakers push for labeling of genetically engineered foods
Lawmakers want the Food and Drug Administration to make sure consumers can tell which foods have been genetically engineered, reports The Hill's Julian Hattem

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Republican questions whether Tsarnaevs had ‘Obama phone’ benefits
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wants to know whether the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings were the recipients of a federal phone subsidy for the poor, reports Jennifer Martinez of The Hill.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Journeys with George
The legacy of George W. Bush is having a revival — and some Republicans can't stand it says David Weigel of Slate.

A modest proposal in response to Boston bombing
Greg Sargent of The Plum Line discusses Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) bill to expand background checks to those buying explosive powder.

GOP should back common-sense anti-discrimination executive order
Republicans should urge Obama to sign an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against gays says author David Lampo via The Daily Caller.

A necessary reckoning with torture
Philip Giraldi of The American Conservative talks about The Constitution Project's report on detainee treatment and that it is but a first step in reclaiming America's honor.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

House conservatives call for new vote to repeal ObamaCare
Freshmen Republicans seek an opportunity to tell their constituents that they tried to repeal the controversial 2010 healthcare plan, reports The Hill's Russell Berman.

Obama to hold first fundraiser for Senate Democrats next month in Atlanta
President Obama will hold his first fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) this election cycle next month in Atlanta, according to an invitation obtained by The Hill, Cameron Joseph reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Sen. Max Baucus votes against gun control - then retires
Mother Jones' Tim Murphy says 'good riddance' to Montana Democrat.

Did the boxing career of the Boston bombing suspect influence the massacre?
Examiners should look for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease found in boxers since the 1920s, during Tamerlin Tsarnaev's autopsy, says Travis Waldron of Think Progress.

Dissecting the Gang of Eight's enforcement sham
Michelle Malkin says last week's immigration reform bill is full of 'phony promises, false triggers, and open-borders illusions.'

Republican senator's position on amnesty has changed since 2010
Eliana Johnson of The Corner says Marco Rubio, Gang of Eight, has 'softened' his views on amnesty since he campaigned for office.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES

Max Baucus to retire from Senate
Sen. Max Baucus's (D-Mont.) retirement complicates Democrats' hopes of holding the Senate in 2014, report The Hill's Cameron Joseph and Ian Swanson.

Hackers send fake tweet about White House explosions
The Associated Press suspended its Twitter account Tuesday afternoon after hackers sent out a message claiming that two explosions had occurred at the White House and injured President Obama, report The Hill's Jennifer Martinez and Justin Sink.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Experiencing the media's pro-am future in Boston
At the Harvard Business Review, Justin Fox recounts his experience during the Boston Marathon bombing.

Barack Obama — natural British conservative
Margaret Thatcher's death sparks a stark reminder of how wide the divide is between British conservatives and American conservatives, writes Brian John Spencer at The League of Ordinary Gentlemen.

Fed still owes Congress a blueprint on its emergency lending
Dealbook's Peter Eavis notes the Fed still hasn't released a proposal for protecting taxpayers when it issues emergency loans.

Sparks fly at immigration hearing
The Corner's Eliana Johnson highlights a heated exchange between Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration reform.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Lawmakers vow bombing investigations
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other lawmakers will examine how closely the FBI looked into Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two suspects believed to be behind the Boston Marathon bombings, The Hill's Jordy Yager reports.

Democrats gain early fundraising edge
Congressional Democrats appear to have the early fundraising advantage ahead of the 2014 midterm elections, according to The Hill's Cameron Joseph.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The Fed messed with the wrong senator
David Dayen of Salon says that if foreclosure victims get justice, trace it back to a bad decision to stonewall Elizabeth Warren last week.

The NRA's fraud: Fabrication of Second Amendment rights
In the Huffington Post, Burton Newman argues the NRA has changed the conversation about guns.

Ricin: Another thing to worry about
The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin thinks the government did a good job at handling the recent security scares in the nation's capitol.

Can't a terrorist be both white and Muslim?
The American Spectator's Aaron Goldstein criticizes a recent article written by Salon's David Sirota.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES

Senate rejects background checks on gun purchases in 54-46 vote
The Senate delivered a devastating blow to President Obama’s agenda to regulate guns Wednesday by defeating a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports.

National Republicans dump Sanford following trespassing allegations
National Republicans are abandoning former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) in the wake of his latest personal controversy, The Hill's Cameron Joseph reports.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the bill on Wednesday morning at 2 a.m.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Why well-informed people are also closed-minded
Cass R. Sunstein of Bloomberg explains why the politically savvy may also be the most politically immovable.

Why conservatives should oppose the death penalty
Former Montana State Senator Roy Brown writes in the Daily Caller that supporting the death penalty violates the core values of being a conservative.

Why call it 'terrorism?'
David Weigel of Slate explains the carefully chosen language used by President Obama during his press briefing after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Steny Hoyer: Boston is 'proof' that sequestration is bad, or something
Mary Katharine Ham of Hot Air says the congressman's statements were made to sound "worse than it is."

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Reid: Ryan, Boehner stalling on budget
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday blasted House Republicans and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), saying they are stalling on the creation of a budget conference committee, The Hill's Erik Wasson reports.

Senate Gang of Eight reveals details for immigration reform platform 
The Senate’s Gang of Eight on Tuesday released the details of a broad agreement to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, The Hill's Alex Bolton reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The President's budget? Preposterous.
The National Review's Yuval Levin criticizes President Obama's budget submission, says it's ability to stimulate a "grand bargain" will be "very unlikely."

Begin the negotiations between the White House and Senate
Right Turn's Jennifer Rubin urges the Pentagon, the Senate and the White House to get "on the same page" to ensure negotiations of the budget in the House.

Why comparing budgets is so maddeningly tough
Wonkblog's Dylan Matthews explains that one reason it is nearly impossible to fairly compare budgets is because their baselines are different.

Jay-Z, Rand Paul, and the Black Democrat mystery
Daily Intel's Jonathan Chait says the Republican outrage over Jay-Z's trip to Cuba underscores how the party is bungling its diversity outreach.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Senate votes 68-31 to move forward with gun control measure
On Thursday, the Senate cleared the expected filibuster and was able to move forward on gun control, The Hill's Jonathan Easley and Ramsey Cox report.

White House backs conference committee as path to debt deal
The administration supports Budget chairmen Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to reconcile the different budget resolutions, The Hill's Erik Wasson reports.

"The public has moved to a different place," said Biden in an interview on MSNBC.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The GOP's lose-lose proposition on race
The Washington Free Beacon's Sonny Bunch thinks that Republicans will always be criticized for making concerted efforts to reach out to ethnic minorities.

Remembering Iraq's liberation without revisionism
Commentary's Michael Rubin argues that a few of the Iraq War's critics are finding fault with its positive aspects.

Americans for Tax Reform call chained CPI a middle-class tax increase
Fire Dog Lake's Jon Walker writes that some Republican opposition to chained-CPI could help protect Social Security.

The president's morning after
The American Prospect's Jaclyn Friedman discusses President Obama's predicament in deciding whether or not to abide by a court ruling that says emergency contraception must be made available over the counter and without age restrictions.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

McConnell campaign says FBI has 'good leads' in bugging probe
The Senate Majority Leader's campaign office is continuing its investigation into how recordings regarding Ashley Judd were leaked from his office, The Hill's Alexandra Jaffe reports.

Man angry about regulations threatens to bomb White House
Pennsylvania native Krzystzof Wasik was arrested after telling a White House guard he had a bomb in his truck, The Hill's Julian Hattem reports.