Politics In 60 Seconds: What You Need To Know Right Now

The Best Political Analysis Of The 2010 Census Yet Obama Needs Fewer White Votes To Win Re-Election Weekend Reading: The Best Political News Analysis So Far This Year

Good morning!  Here's what you need to know:

1.  Republicans, led by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), will propose this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade. The proposal would "transform the Medicare health program for the elderly, a move that will dramatically reshape the budget debate in Washington," says The Wall Street Journal.

2.  The threat of a Federal government shutdown loomed over ongoing budget negotiations.  Friday, 9 April, is the deadline for a deal.

3.  The misery of the munis continues.  Supply is down because demand simply is not there.  No one thinks demand will suddenly pick up in the second quarter.

4.  A special statewide election in Wisconsin tomorrow has become the most closely-watched election of 2011.  Labor unions and conservative groups are pouring money into the Badger State.  The results will be widely viewed as a referendum on GOP efforts to curtail the power of public employee unions. 

5.  President Obama announced that he will seek re-election in 2012.  You can watch the 2012 Obama campaign's announcement video here.

6. US Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has emerged as a force in the 2012 GOP Presidential nomination campaign.  She has been especially well-received in Iowa.

7.  Donald Trump has emerged as the P.T. Barnum of the 2012 GOP Presidential nomination campaign.  In the end, he is not expected to run.

8.  The leadership of the Libyan "rebels" seeking to overthrow Col. Muammar Qaddafi is divided.  The leaders themselves are behaving "like children."  Meanwhile, two of Col. Qaddafi's sons are said to be offering a "transition plan" that will remove their father from power.

9.  The NATO-led squeeze on Colonel Qaddafi is tightening.  Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reports that he is slowly running out of cash. 

10.  WIth not much good happening on the ground in Libya, the Obama Administration is telling top reporters that the real reason the President "intervened" there was to check Iranian ambitions in the region.

11.  The Wall Street Journal has a lengthy investigation of Friday's massacre in Afghanistan.  A mob, allegedly enraged by a publicity stunt in Florida, killed seven workers at a UN compound in what has long been regarded as one of Afghanistan's "safest" cities.

12.  The Obama Administration has apparently decided that the President of Yemen has to go. 

WE KNOW AMERICA's VALUES!

State University Rutgers Paid Snooki $32,000 For A Speech About Partying And Tanning

New Jersey state university Rutgers paid $32,000 to 23-year-old MTV reality star Snooki last week to give a speech about partying.

The Jersey Shore star spoke to 2,000 students at a Q&A session last week and offered advice such as "When you're tan, you feel better about yourself," and "Study hard, but party harder," according to the NY Post.

Snooki received $2,000 more than Nobel-Prize winner Tonie Morrison will get for this year's commencement address. This has caused outrage among some parents and, of course, tax payers

ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME? The longer I live the more I think religion is a crock! More bad than good.

Koran-Burning Protests Enter Fourth Day

Rahmat Gul / AP Photo

As protests in Afghanistan against Florida Pastor Terry Jones’ burning of a Koran enter their fourth day, The Wall Street Journal offers an in-depth look at Friday’s protests, which killed seven U.N. workers in the normally peaceful city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
 While officials have blamed insurgents, the Journal says “ordinary Afghan demonstrators played a critical role in the attack.” Protesters easily stormed the compound and broke into a safe room where five U.N. officials were hiding; four were killed. U.N. workers in the compound’s second safe room survived the attack.