FROM THE BLOGS:

Bush 43’s Top 7
The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake ranks the seven greatest moments in George W. Bush’s presidency in light of his recent return to the spotlight.

Democrats need blue-collar voters to help them hold the Senate
Josh Kraushaar of National Journal says Democrats will be fighting for blue-collar voters from Michigan to Montana in the 2014 senate elections.

An open letter on immigration reform
Red State’s Daniel Horowitz writes an open letter to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) about what’s at stake for conservatives with immigration reform.

Does Obama need to play more hardball?
The Wall Street Journal’s Peter Nicholas examines a frequent criticism of the president.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

GOP anxiety delays bill to extend ObamaCare coverage of pre-existing conditions
The Hill’s Peter Kasperowicz reports on why the Republican bill to extend temporary ObamaCare benefits for individuals with pre-existing conditions did not see a vote Wednesday as planned.

Senator Harkin puts a hold on Obama healthcare nominee
The Hill’s Sam Baker reports that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is protesting the Affordable Healthcare Act's controversial fund for preventative healthcare by delaying the nomination of a top post within the agency responsible for its overhaul. 

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:

Two more victories in the fight against mountaintop removal coal mining
At Grist, Mary Anne Hitt calls attention to a pair of recent legal rulings against the mining process.

Carpetbagger
Ed Kilgore at The Washington Monthly notes a recent poll that shows Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) leading former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in a possible match-up in New Hampshire.

Is Obamacare turning healthcare into a luxury?
The Obama administration's healthcare reform law might be turning healthcare into a luxury, Walter Russell Mead writes for The American Interest.

Christie delivers ode to Bruce Springsteen: 'We’ve got Bruce, he’s ours'
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) shared his love for Bruce Springsteen during an interview on a local radio station, notes The Weekly Standard's Daniel Halper.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Max Baucus to retire from Senate
The chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee announced Tuesday that he would not run for reelection, report The Hill's Ian Swanson and Cameron Joseph.

Delays at airports mount as furloughs enter second day
The Hill's Keith Laing reports that airports are experiencing flight delays because of air traffic controller furloughs.

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:

Gun Owners of America leader: liberals pleased with Boston bombing 
The Huffington Post's Nick Wing writes about the claims made by the head of a gun rights group that's to the right of the NRA.

Elizabeth Colbert-Busch's lead over Mark Sanford grows in South Carolina special election
David Nir of the Daily Kos explains how the sister of a famed comedian was able to move up in the polls against the former Governor of South Carolina.

Two brief thoughts on Boston
Peggy Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal that the recent Boston bombings could impede on the potential for any immigration reform bill to pass in Congress.

Senator Toomey vs. the NRA
The National Review's Eliana Johnson writes that NRA leadership believes Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) will regret trying to get bipartisan gun control legislation passed through the Senate.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Cornyn: Gang of Eight immigration bill undermines border security
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is concerned that the bipartisan immigration bill focuses on improving border security for only a few checkpoints and says there is not a concrete plan for tracking visas exiting the country, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports.

Obamas to attend service for victims of Texas explosion
The President and First Lady will attend the memorial service at Baylor University in addition to the dedication of President George W. Bush's presidential library, The Hill's Justin Sink reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Republican congressman condemns GOP effort to use Boston bombing against immigration reform
Zack Beauchamp and Scott Keyes of Think Progress weigh in on the condemnation of Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) comments on immigration reform by prominent Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.).

Obama's budget plan: Modest cuts for seniors, big cuts on everything else
Policy Shop's David Callahan writes about the large cuts made to non-defense domestic spending in President Obama's budget.

Sean Collier: MIT police officer killed in shootout
Washington Free Beacon staff highlight the MIT report of Sean Collier, an MIT police officer killed Thursday night in a shootout between police and the suspects of the Boston Marathon bombing.

The most dangerous substance in America may be fertilizer
The Daily Beast's Megan McArdle points out that the recent West Texas fertilizer plant explosion was not the first of its kind.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Administration presses ahead on background checks after Senate defeat
The Hill's Ben Goad and Julian Hattem report on steps the Obama administration is taking to curb gun violence after the Manchin-Toomey bill was defeated in the Senate.

Gillibrand rebuts Grassley, says Boston bombings have nothing to do with immigration reform
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) criticized a claim by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) connecting the bombing to immigration reform, according to Capital New York's Dana Rubenstein.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Jon Stewart's long War with CNN is getting bitter, petty
Jon Stewart lambasted CNN's Wednesday coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, Esther Zuckerman writes at the Atlantic Wire.

The four Democrats who voted against background checks
At Talking Points Memo, Sahil Kapur highlights the Senate Democrats that voted against background check legislation.

Blumenthal on gun laws: 'Americans won't take no for an answer'
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) vowed to continue pushing to pass stricter gun laws after his chamber voted against a measure to expand background checks for gun purchases, Bloomberg's Jonathan Salant reports.

Two cheers for the Rubio-G8 immigration plan: Kind of kludgey but an improvement over the status quo
James Pethokoukis, writing for the American Enterprise Institute, praises the so-called Gang of Eight's immigration reform proposal. 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama: Boston, US 'undaunted'
The nation remains "undaunted" after the Boston Marathon bombing, President Obama said Thursday, according to The Hill's Justin Sink.

Saudi student hurt in Boston bombing not a suspect, not being deported
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a House panel Thursday that a student injured in the Boston bombing is not, contrary to some reports, being deported, The Hill's Julian Pecquet and Jordy Yager report.

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.

FROM THE BLOGS:

CNN's bad day
It was an historically bad day for CNN as it flubbed breaking news on the Boston bombing twice, writes the Washington Post's Erik Wemple.

Sanford crosses the line, maybe for the last time
Washington Monthly’s Ed Kilgore on what Sanford's latest transgression will mean for his bid for Senate.

Can Rubio's hip-hop bonafides pay dividends?
Scott Conroy at Real Clear Politics writes on the GOP star's unique area of expertise.

New NRA ad on background checks skews numbers
Slate’s William Saletan fact-checks a recent ad by the National Rife Association that claims 80 percent of police officers believe background checks have no effect on violent crime.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Senate rejects background checks bill
The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports on a big blow to President Obama's agenda.

FBI warns media to not report inaccuracies about Boston bombing
The Hill’s Jonathan Easley on the FBI chastising major media outlets for conflicting and inaccurate reports about the Boston marathon