memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE: Bill Clinton Calls ‘Birther’ Doubts About Obama's Citizenship ‘Ludicrous’ (Suzan Clarke/ABCNEWS)

10:30 AM ET, April 4, 2011

Top Items:

Obama launches reelection campaign with e-mail, web video — The president pledges to focus on his job, but will pick up the tempo of campaigning this month with several fundraisers. The campaign is hoping to raise a record $1 billion. — President Obama speaking in March (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images))

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Reaction, Mediaite and Politics

Marc Ambinder / NationalJournal.com:

Obama Announces Reelection Bid — President Obama opens his reelection campaign on Monday with a familiar cast of consultants; an economy that's improving, sluggishly; wars that he is struggling to extract himself from; and an implacable partisan fight in Congress that might shut down the government by week's end.

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

Obama launches reelection campaign with video — President Barack Obama launched his reelection campaign Monday morning with a web video posted on his website. — “It Begins With Us” features a series of supporters from around the country explaining why they support the president …

Discussion: Another Black Conservative, The Lonely Conservative, FrumForum and Taylor Marsh

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Obama Begins Re-Election Facing New Political Challenges — President Obama confirmed Monday morning that he will seek another four years in the White House, launching a re-election campaign that will ask Americans to endorse the status quo over the increasingly vocal calls from Republicans for a fresh start in Washington.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, James Pethokoukis, msnbc.com, That Mr. G Guy's Blog, Washington Post, Poll Watch Daily, AMERICAblog News and Big Government

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Pawlenty ribs Obama's reelection announcement

Discussion: CNN and Pat Dollard

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama launches 2012 reelection bid with ‘it begins with us’ video

Discussion: Guardian, Fox News and Wall Street Journal

Jessica Yellin / CNN:
With short video, Obama launches bid for re-election

Discussion: In The Agora

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Clinton: Shutdown would hurt GOP but might not be ‘traumatic’ for economy — A government shutdown might not have a “traumatic” effect on the economy, former President Bill Clinton said Monday. — Clinton, who faced a shutdown during his 1995 budget negotiations with congressional Republicans …

Discussion: The Politico, Connecting.the.Dots and FrumForum

Sean J. Miller / The Hill:

The Hill Poll: GOP seen as more reasonable in spending-cut debate — A plurality of likely voters believes Republicans have been more reasonable than Democrats in the negotiations over spending cuts. — A new poll conducted for The Hill showed 41 percent polled said the GOP had been …

Discussion: Hot Air and National Review

Suzan Clarke / ABCNEWS:

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Clinton Calls ‘Birther’ Doubts About Obama's Citizenship ‘Ludicrous’ — Former President Believes U.S. Should Arm Libya's Rebels — Continuing outcry by “birthers” — a small but vocal movement which questions whether President Barack Obama was actually born on U.S. soil …

Discussion: Ballot Box

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

Bill Clinton to White House: Consider arming rebels — Former President Bill Clinton is calling on the Obama administration not to “shut the door” on the possibility of arming rebels fighting against Muammar Qadhafi's regime in Libya. — “I might need to know a little more …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:

GOP Aim: Cut $4 Trillion — Budget Plan Would Transform Medicare, Reset Budget Debate; Democrats Balk — Republicans will present this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade and transform the Medicare health program …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Washington Post and FrumForum

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
House Republicans Propose $4 Trillion in Cuts Over Decade

Discussion: Yglesias, Wonk Room, Paul Krugman and Marginal Revolution

Fox News:
GOP Budget Plan to Cut More Than $4 Trillion Over Decade, Rep. Paul Ryan Says

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Booman Tribune, Another Black Conservative, The Other McCain, Maggie's Notebook, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Cubachi, PERRspectives, The Lonely Conservative and UrbanGrounds

The Politico:
Budget countdown: Deal or no deal?

Discussion: Yglesias, Right Wing News and Firedoglake

Washington Post:
Government shutdown looms over talks as crunch time for 2011 budget nears

Discussion: The Politico, msnbc.com, Fox News and FrumForum

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

A Tea Party Star Stirs Iowans, and She Isn't Palin — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Sarah Palin, the reigning heroine of many social conservatives, has given few signals that she will make a presidential bid. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of his appeal …

Discussion: CNN, Ballot Box, msnbc.com, The Politico, The Last Tradition and American Power

Russell Berman / The Hill:
GOP freshmen face big shutdown decision: fight or fall in line

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's … and Roll Call

The Note:
The Note: Race Is On: Obama Re-Election Announcement Offers First Glimpse At Democrats' 2012 Campaign

Discussion: ABCNEWS and The Politico

Matt Welch / Hit & Run:

It Doesn't Get Any Clearer Than That: “Free speech is a great idea, but we're in a war” — Here's what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said today about Florida pastor Terry Jones' burning of a Koran, which has been used an excuse by Afghanis to murder 22 people, including seven United Nations workers:

Discussion: National Review, NY Daily News, Weasel Zippers and Washington Times

Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:
Lindsey Graham: 'Freedom of Speech is a Great Idea But We're in a War'

Discussion: Mediaite, NewsReal Blog and theblogprof

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Reid: 'We'll look into' Quran burning

Ynetnews:

‘NYT refused to publish Goldstone retraction’ — Source close to South African judge claims he initially approached liberal publication to print his letter of regret - and was rejected. New York Times says in response it does not comment on editorial process — Eldad Beck

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Elder of Ziyon

Cathy Hayes / IrishCentral:
Samantha Power to be the next Secretary of State?

Discussion: Washington Post, Israel Matzav, Don Surber and Atlas Shrugs

The Politico:

Jon Huntsman, the rock ‘n’ roll years — Jonny Huntsman didn't quite make it through his senior year of high school, and the cause was pretty plain to his classmates. One recalled the long-haired, diffident Salt Lake City high schooler sitting next to him in history class “hitting his desk as if it were a piano.”

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and GOP 12

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

A SUCKER'S BET.... The effort to pass a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year will be the principal challenge for policymakers over the next few days, but while that work continues, congressional Republicans will also start a massive fight over the next budget.

Discussion: That Mr. G Guy's Blog

Paul Krugman:

Diminished Individualism Watch — A few weeks back I commented on a George Will column in which he said that … So I think that it is my civic duty to report that yesterday, as I got off Amtrak 161 from Trenton to Washington — having spent 2 1/2 hours being made more amenable to collectivism …

Discussion: Grist

Nick Pryer / Daily Mail:

Is this the first ever portrait of Jesus? The incredible story of 70 ancient books hidden in a cave for nearly 2,000 years — The image is eerily familiar: a bearded young man with flowing curly hair. After lying for nearly 2,000 years hidden in a cave in the Holy Land, the fine detail is difficult to determine.

Discussion: Maggie's Notebook and theblogprof