FROM THE BLOGS:

Can lightning strike twice in Massachusetts?
The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin thinks Republican Gabriel Gomez could potentially win Secretary of State John Kerry's former Massachusetts Senate seat.

April jobs report: Surprising strength, consistent with a slowdown
John Hayward of Human Events writes that while the increase in payrolls and decrease in the unemployment rate for the month of April is good news, there are still a few underlying factors that make the economic recovery seem sub-par.

Plan B is very misunderstood
Cecile Richards argues in Time magazine that the Obama administration's decision to try and prevent girls under the age of 15 from purchasing emergency contraception is a bad idea.

Clarence Thomas suggests 'elites' like Obama because he's what 'they expect from a black person'
Adam Serwer of Mother Jones criticizes recent comments that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court Justice made about President Obama at Duquesne University.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Gun control supporters launch frenzied campaign to revive bill
Advocates of gun control reform feel that their cause will be helped by the dropping poll numbers of senators who voted against the Manchin-Toomey bill to expand background checks, according to The Hill's Mike Lillis.

Schumer: ObamaCare could raise premiums
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says one way to prevent this from happening would be for regulators to closely monitor the activities of private insurance companies, The Hill's Elise Viebeck reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Obama, 'leadership' and magical thinking
Daily Intel's Jonathan Chait believes that, while a divided Congress is the biggest impediment to President Obama's success, there's still more he could be doing.

Ethics problems could end Bachmann's career
Salon's Alex Seitz-Wald interviews experts who believe the questions swirling around the Minnesota congresswoman's presidential campaign could quickly become a major problem.

The stakes of being too late
The Washington Post's Michael Gerson says Syria has undermined President Obama's foreign policy doctrine of tactical timidity.

We're not all Keynesians now
The Corner's Veronique de Rugy disputes Paul Krugman's declaration that Keynesians have won the economic debate.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Battle rages over 'slaughtered in the USA' meat labels
Consumer advocates believe the White House should press forward with the labels despite the threat of trade sanctions, The Hill's Ben Goad reports.

Public hands in 371 tons of prescription drugs
The Drug Enforcement Administration collected the unused, expired and unwanted pharmaceuticals, The Hill's Julian Hattem reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The president's Guantánamo comments
Benjamin Wittes at the Lawfare blog is "mystified" by President Obama's comments Thursday morning on closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay.

Why Penny Pritzker's Commerce secretary hearing won't be easy
Obama tapped Penny Pritzker to be the next secretary of Commerce Thursday morning. Carol Felsenthel, writing at her blog at Chicago magazine, writes that Prizker's confirmation won't be easy.

Yes, Ted Cruz could win the presidency
Jonathan Bernstein, writing at The Washington Monthly's Ten Miles Square blog, writes that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) could conceivably be elected president in 2016.

The missing rump
At his National Review blog, Reihan Salam responds to Ross Douthat's point that a small number of House Republicans oftentimes block the GOP from embracing certain policies.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Ricin mailings spotlight letters' long path to Capitol
In light of the recent mailings of ricin-laced letters to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Gabriel Debenedetti of Reuters explains how the congressional mail process works.

Paul chief of staff moves to campaign role ahead of possible White House bid
Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) chief of staff is leaving the senator's congressional office to manage his campaign operation, The Hill's Alexandra Jaffe reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Now the hard part: Implementing ObamaCare
Joan McCarter of the Daily Kos says that the Affordable Care Act should be implemented efficiently and effectively so as not to allow Republican fears about the bill to become a reality.



Immigration reform being deformed
Cal Thomas writes in the Washington Examiner that the current immigration bill proposed by the Senate's Gang of Eight has some major loopholes that must be closed before it sees a vote.



Ted Cruz will never be president
Salon's Joan Walsh says Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is so far outside the mainstream that it would be difficult for him to win a Republican primary.



The al Qaeda franchise threat
The Editors at The Wall Street Journal note that despite the recent killing of high-profile terrorists, al Qaeda still has a strong presence.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

RNC ad with Obama and Newtown mother infuriates DNC
The DNC is upset that a RNC ad used a photo of President Obama consoling a Newtown, Conn., mother to point out that a bill on background checks failed in the Senate, The Hill's Jonathan Easley reports.

Carney won't rule out arming Syria rebels
The question arose again just days after reports that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on its citizens, which the White House previously said would be its "red line," The Hill's Jeremy Herb reports.



FROM THE BLOGS:

All aboard the ACA train
Come 2014, the Affordable Care Act will be in full swing. New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait gives his take on whether it will be the "train wreck" Republicans are expecting.

100 Angry men
The New Yorker’s Amy Davidson looks at the 100 prisoners taking part in the Guantánamo hunger strike.

A second shot at the gun bill?
The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift looks at the post-gun-bill backlash on Senate Republicans and whether the bill has a chance for revival.

Why I could never be a liberal
The Week’s Matt K. Lewis is a conservative who’s frequently at odds with his peers. Here’s why he will never switch political sides.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

White House press secretary defends gun control activists
The Hill’s Justin Sink reports on White House press secretary Jay Carney defending gun control activists who are confronting their lawmakers.

Obama approves bill to ease flight delays
The Hill’s Keith Laing reports on President Obama signing the bill to end FAA furloughs that have been delaying flights at airports nationwide.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Gohmert: Holder sympathetic to terrorists
Rep Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) displayed 'crazed paranoia' in suggesting Attorney General Eric Holder was sympathetic to terrorists, argues blogger Doktor Zoom of Wonkette.

L.A. Times faces mass staff exodus if Koch brothers buy paper
The Los Angeles Times staff are not thrilled about the prospect of working for the conservative brothers, says blogger Blue Texan of Crooks and Liars.

Pinocchio Obama and his ongoing sequester dissembling
David Limbaugh of Right Wing News accuses Obama of exploiting the sequester.

Food stamp credit card
John Hayward of Red State says the electronic processing of food stamp benefits should have provided a data-processing defense against abuse.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Rand Paul endorses Mark Sanford
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is endorsing former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) House campaign in a move that could help be mutually beneficial, reports The Hill's Cameron Joseph.

Obama cautions against 'rushing to judgment' on Syria
President Obama cautioned against "rushing to judgment" because the United States still does not know who used chemical weapons in Syria, reports The Hill's Jeremy Herb.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Obama in charge but not in control
Zeke Miller at TIME magazine writes on Monday’s press conference in which President Obama bemoaned the limits of his power.

Obama channels President Clinton’s worst day in office
Ron Fournier at the National Journal says the president raised doubts about his own relevancy in a Monday press conference.

The myth of an all-powerful president
Greg Sargent at The Plumline says the media holds the president to a higher standard than it does Congress when it comes to Washington gridlock.

Don’t buy the conservative ‘slippery slope’ argument
Cass Sunstein at Bloomberg says conservatives fall back on the slippery slope argument when they have nothing left to stand on.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama bristles at suggestions that his second-term agenda is failing

Justin Sink at The Hill reports the president put his exasperation on display at Monday’s press conference.

Obama’s relationship with GOP at a new low
Molly K. Hooper at The Hill reports on the perpetual downward slide in Washington.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Here's how to dump UN official who smeared US after Boston attacks
Anne Bayefsky explains on FoxNews.com what steps, if taken, would get Richard Falk removed as a United Nations special rapporteur.

House GOP plans even deeper food stamp cuts
The Nation's George Zornick says that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would end up negatively affecting as many as 13 million people.

Gay athletes should come out of the closet already
Bloomberg's Josh Barro thinks that more closeted athletes should follow the lead of NBA basketball player Jason Collins, who announced Monday that he is gay.

Cuomo wouldn't even try to challenge Hillary
FireDogLake's Jon Walker discusses a recent New York Post article in which New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) apparently told associates he would not enter the 2016 presidential race if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Poll: Public blames Obama, GOP equally for sequester flight delays
A Pew Research Center survey shows that 34 percent of respondents blamed congressional Republicans for the flight delays, whereas 32 percent blamed President Obama, according to The Hill's Erik Wasson.

Sources: Gary Peters to announce Michigan Senate bid Wednesday
The Democratic congressman is vying to replace retiring Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), The Hill's Cameron Joseph reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Democrats have little to gain from economic progress
Tom Raum of The Associated Press thinks President Obama’s policy successes won’t necessarily translate to ballot box victories for members of his party.

Cruz Control
Slate’s David Weigel takes issue with how Texas Sen. Ted Cruz casts himself as the hero in the gun control story.

Why did we forget about Gitmo?
The Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky thinks the American public’s lack of outcry regarding Guantánamo proves that “we’ve become a pretty lousy people.”

Sissel vs. HHS: 'A battle for my liberty'
The American Spectator’s David Catron on the Iraq veteran who decided to take the healthcare law to court.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Conservative groups oppose chained CPI
The Hill’s Bernie Becker reports on the Club for Growth’s recent warning to the Obama administration about the tax-hiking dangers of slowing inflation rates on government programs.

Mayor of Charlotte named new DOT secretary
The Hill’s Keith Laing on Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx’s strong track record with public transportation.