Jonathan Cohn: "If you can get past the fuzzy math and sheer indifference to the poor, it's possible to discern a coherent conceit in the Ryan plan: that the burden of maintaining a modern welfare state has become too great to bear. You can see this most clearly in Ryan’s proposals to transform health care, which is … Continue reading The 'No We Can't' Budget

Ezra Klein: "Ryan’s suggestion that Medicare and Medicaid can or should be held to the rate of inflation is absurd. His budget has no way of making that happen, save for draconian cuts in both (this goes far, far beyond “means-testing”). And you don’t have to take it from me. Alice Rivlin, an eminent budget … Continue reading Ezra Klein on Paul Ryan's Budget

Erie Times-News: "Dahlkemper, of Erie, said she's been talking to people about whether to gear up for another run. "Is this the best way for me to continue to serve the community that I love so much? I'm trying to make the best decision for me and my (former) constituents,'' she said."

"Find out how health reform helps the people you know"  

The Christian Science Monitor: "Around the world, the death penalty appears to be in decline. However, a new report by Amnesty International reveals that a handful of countries continue the practice."

NY Times: "Early on the morning of Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent’s season of penitence, Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois went through some final, solitary rumination. For much of his political career, he had supported capital punishment, albeit with reservations, even debating it at the dinner table with his mother. Now a legislative bill abolishing … Continue reading Faith Was on the Governor’s Shoulder

Cincinnati.com: "Steve Driehaus, the West Price Hill Democrat who lost his bid for a second term in Congress last fall, will leave the U.S. in June to become the Peace Corps’ director of HIV and AIDS education in the south African nation of Swaziland, the country with the worst HIV problem in the world.  "This … Continue reading Pro-life Democrat Driehaus will serve in Africa

Washington Post: "Syrian security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas rounds at protesters Friday, killing an undetermined number of people, as unrest that had been mostly contained in a small southwestern city erupted across the country, including the capital, Damascus."

CNN: "The intractable violence in the Ivory Coast continues unabated. The U.N. peacekeeping mission warns that forces loyal to former President Laurent Gbgabo are using heavy weapons to target civilians.   Alassane Ouattara, the man recognized by African leaders as the winner of last year’s presidential election, blames the U.N. for not doing enough to protect … Continue reading No easy solutions to Ivory Coast crisis