FROM THE BLOGS:

CIA warned of 'Jihadist' threat to Cairo Embassy
The Weekly Standard's Thomas Joscelyn says that one of the consequences that resulted from the changing of the Benghazi talking points is that it is now less clear what led to the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

Why big abortion shares Gosnell's guilt
Jeanneane Maxon writes in The Washington Times that common-sense regulations should be imposed on abortion clinics.

Planned Parenthood launches ads against Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate
The Huffington Post's Laura Bassett reports that Planned Parenthood is attacking on womens' rights issues Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) in a series of new web videos.

The IRS 'scandal' -- all smoke, no fire
Mark Sumner of the Daily Kos thinks that the extra scrutiny given to Tea Party groups by the IRS cannot accurately be classified as a witch hunt.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

White House asks Schumer to reintroduce media shield law
The Obama administration wants Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to reintroduce legislation that provides additional legal protections to journalists, according to The Hill's Justin Sink.

Dems mull 'nuclear option' on filibuster to move EPA nominee McCarthy
Some Senate Democrats are now in favor of circumventing Republicans in order to get Gina McCarthy confirmed as EPA head, The Hill's Zack Colman reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The bogus Obama administration "low-level" employees argument
Town Hall's Katie Pavlich says the Obama Administration blames low-level government employees for each scandal that occurs under its watch.



Understanding the politics of the IRS scandal
Talking Points Memo's John Marshall says that the recent IRS scandal will rile up the base of the Republican Party just in time for next year's congressional elections.



Obama's leak hypocrisy
Commentary's Jonathan Tobin says the Obama administration is politicizing both sides of the argument when it comes to security leaks.

CIA's Russian spy flap: dumb and dumber
The Nation's Bob Dreyfuss notes that the capture of an American spy in Moscow couldn't come at a worse time for the Obama administration.



OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

White House: GOP fabricated leaked Benghazi email
White House press secretary Jay Carney blamed Republicans for falsifying emails to two media organizations that attempted to further frame the Obama Administration in a negative light for its handling of the terrorist attack at the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, The Hill's Justin Sink reports.



Hagel announces Pentagon furloughs
The Defense Secretary says that the furloughs replace other cuts that could have jeopardized national security, The Hill's Jeremy Herb reports.



FROM THE BLOGS:

This is what the gender gap in Congress looks like
Salon's Katie McDonough highlights an infograph illustrating the gender disparity among elected officials

How the IRS just handed the Tea Party its biggest victory
Slate's Dave Weigel argues the scandal has validated concerns raised by the conservative groups.

Jay Carney's Waterloo
National Review's Charles C.W. Cooke says the press secretary has floundered in recent days

Outrageous and intrusive IRS questions
The Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft highlights questions of Tea Party groups by the IRS he sees as harassment 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Russia orders expulsion of accused spy
Russia called the actions of American Ryan Fogle "provocative" and reminiscent of the Cold War, The Hill's Julian Pecquet reports

Justice Department launches IRS probe
Attorney General Eric Holder ordered an investigation into the targeting of conservative political groups, The Hill's Daniel Strauss reports

FROM THE BLOGS:

Karl Rove targets Hillary Clinton with new Benghazi video
The Daily Beast's John Avlon says the video is a preemptive strike against the potential 2016 presidential candidate.

Conservatives aren't the only ones having an existential crisis
Z Magazine's Edward S. Herman asks if Democrats are advancing enough 'positive values' in this quickly changing political landscape.

The IRS: the internal retaliation service
Town Hall's Tony Katz says that since the IRS was targeting Tea Party groups during the 2012 election, it was, by every standard, electioneering.

Graduation season raises new questions about gender on campus
The American's Mark J. Perry questions why there are numerous women's centers on college campuses even though men are now the 'second sex' in higher education. 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama calls IRS's targeting of conservative groups 'outrageous'
President Obama said Monday that he would 'not tolerate' political targeting by the Internal Revenue Service, report The Hill's Justin Sink and Bernie Becker.

Benghazi review chief defends decision to not interview Clinton
Retired U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering said his probe was aimed at finding out who made the decisions on Benghazi, Libya, and that Clinton was not involved, reports The Hill's Jonathan Easley.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Top conservative publication defends linking Hispanics to low IQ
Thinkprogress's Zack Beauchamp goes after National Review's defense of Jason Richwine's dissertation on IQ and race.

Two cheers for the elite policy consensus
Our society is becoming more and more humane, argues Josh Barro at Bloomberg View.

Obama is not weak on terrorism
At The Week, Paul Brandus pushes back on the argument that President Obama is an unusually weak president on terrorism.

The WaPo keeps fighting on food aid
Simon Lester at Cato-at-Liberty praises a Washington Post editorial on foreign aid and "domestic agricultural interest."

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Carney: White House lawyers knew of IRS investigation in April
Press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that the White House had been informed in April that the IRS's Cincinnati field office was being investigated for applying extra scrutiny to Tea Party groups, according to The Hill's Justin Sink.

Ways and Means sets hearing on IRS
The powerful House Ways and Means committee has scheduled a hearing to investigate the IRS targeting Tea Party groups, reports The Hill's Peter Schroeder.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Finally, a real scandal for conservatives to chew on
Mother Jones's Kevin Drum says that with the IRS's recent admission of audit targeting, conservatives are right to make a fuss.

Why does the press still take the Heritage Foundation seriously?
The Nation's Reed Richardson advises the media that it’s the time to start treating the Heritage Foundation like "the permanent political campaign shop" that it is.

Obama burned by 'tanning tax'
Newsmax's Dick Armey says ObamaCare's 'tanning bed tax' does not live up to expectation.

Rise of the Republican governors
City Journal's Steven Malanga is not convinced of the 'new liberal era.'

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

IRS admits targeting Tea Party
The IRS is apologizing for flagging Tea Party groups for a higher level of scrutiny but says its employees were not targeting conservative outfits for partisan reasons, report The Hill's Bernie Becker and Cameron Joseph.

Obama to tout health law amid Democratic worries over 2014
President Obama will make a public defense of his signature healthcare law Friday, using Mother's Day as a backdrop, reports The Hill's Sam Baker.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The Federal Government is the nation's biggest creator of low wage jobs: time for Obama to act
Mike Lux of Crooks and Liars finds it troubling that the president has not used his executive powers to help those 2,000,000 low wage workers working for government contractors.

Can you see us now?
Geoffrey Norman, of The Weekly Standard, comments on The Washington Post's story about the excessive amount of money the military spends on camouflage.

Why we should mistrust the government
Fox News's Judge Andrew P. Napolitano says America was born out of mistrust of government.

House GOP owes Benghazi victims and their families the respect and urgency they did not get from Hillary or the President
At townhall.com Hugh Hewitt  says if House Republicans do not establish a select committee to investigate the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the GOP majority will be complicit in the very cover-up they are supposed to be investigating.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Boehner under new pressure for special committee on Benghazi
Speaker Boehner is under pressure to create a select committee to investigate the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, according to The Hill's Julian Pecquet.

Rep. Steve King: Obama 'lowering American values'
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) on Thursday accused President Obama and other Democrats of hurting American values, reports The Hill's Pete Kasperowicz.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Benghazi truths and lies
The American Enterprise Institute’s Norman Orstein says that Congress acted “like moths to a flame” in going after the truth on Benghazi, Libya.
 
News on Benghazi not fit to print?
Commentary’s Rick Richman argues that the latest congressional hearing on Benghazi was not the front-page story some thought it was.

Should labor leaders go after big banks?
The American Prospect’s Sarah Jaffe says that union workers victimized by the bad economy should “stick it” to the financial institutions that are responsible for their condition.

Delaying Medicaid expansion an Obamacare bargaining chip
The Washington Examiner’s Yevginey Feyman looks at the states that have put the brakes on expanding Medicaid and their options for the future.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama calls for $9 minimum wage
The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports that the president advocated for raising the federal minimum wage to $9 in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.

Lawmakers scold OMB on missed deadline
The Hill’s Ben Goad looks at how the Office of Management and Budget has drawn the ire of the House Oversight Committee.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Senate Democrats filibuster Coburn amendment to expand gun rights
Senate Democrats blocked an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to expand gun rights, according to Sahil Kapur at Talking Points Memo. 

Stephen Hawking, useful idiot
Aaron Goldstein at The American Spectator's The Spectacle Blog criticizes comments made by Stephen Hawking on Palestinian-Israeli relations.

Elizabeth Warren: Students "deserve the same break that big banks get"
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) explained to David Dayen new legislation she introduced Wednesday to reduce student loan debt. Read Dayen's write up at Salon.com.

Nobody has any idea what's going on in our health care system
Walter Russell Mead at The American Interest calls details in a new report on Medicare reimbursement rates "alarming."

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama, House Democrats talk jobs, deficit reduction
At President Obama's dinner with House Democrats on Wednesday, the discussion was mainly about job creation and deficit reduction, reports The Hill's Mike Lillis.

Lawmakers to TSA: Stop wasting money on unused scanners and equipment
A number of legislators on the House Homeland Security Committee accused the Transportation Security Administration of wasting money on unused equipment. The Hill's Keith Laing has more.