The Presidential Divider  —  Obama's toxic speech and even worse plan for deficits and debt.  —  Did someone move the 2012 election to June 1?  We ask because President Obama's extraordinary response to Paul Ryan's budget yesterday—with its blistering partisanship and multiple distortions …

The Budget Speech  —  Style: I liked the way Obama made a case for government at the beginning.  I liked the way he accused Republicans of pessimism, of abandoning a hopeful vision of America.  Good that he went after the Ryan plan — and good that he went after the cruelty of that plan.

Strike One  —  We initially supported the deal House Speaker John Boehner cut with the White House to cut $38.5 billion from the rest of the fiscal year 2011 budget.  It was only a pittance in the context of all of Washington's red ink, but it seemed an acceptable start, even if we assumed it would be imperfect in its details.

FACT SHEET: The President's Framework for Shared Prosperity and Shared Fiscal Responsibility  —  The President believes that we need a comprehensive, pro-growth economic strategy that invests in winning the future, lays the foundation for strong private-sector job growth and ensures …

Krauthammer's take on Obama's budget address: ‘I thought it was a disgrace’  —  It's been just a few hours since President Barack Obama has finished his budget address at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and there already been significant pushback from the right.

Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on President Obama's Deficit-Reduction Plan  —  President Obama made an important contribution today to efforts to address the nation's long-term fiscal problems, proposing a plan to reduce deficits by about $4 trillion over the next 12 years and meet …

CBO Says Budget Deal Will Cut Spending by Only $352 Million  —  Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has boasted that the spending deal provided the biggest budget cuts in history.  —  A Congressional Budget Office analysis of the fiscal 2011 spending deal …

Obama's Speech Was a Waste of Breath  —  Obama had a difficult assignment in this speech, partly because of the exaggerated hopes for it (see previous post).  Even allowing for that, it was weak both politically and substantively.  My instant unguarded reaction, in fact, was to find it not just weak but pitiful.