Setting aside the policy implications of Chained CPI, what the President and his men have discovered today is that there is still a lot of juice in the Third Rail. There are protests against characterizations of President Obama's budget proposal as a "fumble." The protest is 'these are smart people. They know what they are doing." I think this misunderstands the "fumble" description.

I'm not someone who thinks President Obama made this proposal knowing it would be rejected out of hand. I think he thought he could get to a Grand Bargain from this proposal, picking up a little support from the GOP and a lot of support from The Media and these combined would let him muscle this through the Democratic caucuses.

More . . .

Last 2 spots in in Champions League semis filled today. I like Barcelona -1½ over Paris Saint-Germain (5 units) (and to advance to the semis) and Juventus -½ (+190) over Bayern Munich (Bayern to advance to the semis). (I have Dortmund to win it all at 8-1 (made the investment before they advanced to the semis.))

Open Thread.

Jeffrey Goldberg writes:

Was the Iraq Invasion Worthwhile? Ask an Iraqi

In a recent interview with the New York Times, the writer Toni Morrison said, “I dare you to tell me a sane reason we went to Iraq.” Her request is not unreasonable.

Indeed. Does Goldberg then provide a "reasonable" answer? Not in my mind. Instead he decides that to answer Morrison's question of whether the Iraq war was worthwhile for the United States, he needed to ask an Iraqi:

Jimmy Kimmel's latest threat to Germany to release Justin Bieber's monkey is pretty funny. So is Kid Rock who comes on at the end (and of course Guillermo in the middle blowing up a German chocolate cake.)

Why is the Voice so much better than American Idol? I think it's because the singers are more talented and memorable and the judges are better and much less scripted. They also have good chemistry with each other. New judges Shakira and Usher are more interesting than either Cee Lo Green or Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton is impossible not to like, and Adam Levine is so....earnest. Even Carson Daly is good in his role as hand-holder to the contestants' families backstage as they watch the performance. Or maybe it's just that the casting directors are better. Whatever, it's a the season is off to a great start. The blind auditions continue tonight.

On a more serious note, Reason TV has a video, "Tortured for Testimony: Anarchists Get Solitary Confinement for Not Snitching" about some young political activists/anarchists put in the hole at Seattle's federal detention center for refusing to comply with a grand jury subpoena ordering them to testify. Neither had been charged with a crime.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

While the rest of the nation is in financial straits due to the sequester cuts, the DEA soldiers on. It just finished spending months on yet another Most Excellent African Adventure, which ended with traipsing 5 Africans, who had never set foot on U.S. soil or planned to commit any crime here before the DEA suggested one to them, to New York where they face potential life sentences.

Once again, the case involves FBI informants pretending to be Colombian providers of cocaine offering to fly drugs from South America to West Africa. Had the drugs been real, they would been shuttled from Africa to Europe. For jurisdictional purposes, the informants made sure to tell the Africans that a minor portion of the drugs would go to the U.S. and Canada.

To make the case fit the DEA’s “narco-terrorism” meme, the informants also asked the Africans to supply missiles and weapons, telling them they wanted to use them in Colombia to shoot down U.S. aircraft destroying their cocaine fields.

There never were any drugs or weapons of course. It was just another sting. [More...]

So sayeth conservative blogger Patterico:

I am not a fan of the policy of prohibiting people from traveling to Cuba. I understand the purpose of the ban, but I am generally for freedom. My default position is that we should be able to travel where we want to travel.

But wait, there's more:

But if the ban should be lifted, it should be lifted for all — not just those who are friends with Obama.

Hmm. I' going to Cuba this summer and I'm not "friends with Obama." How am I managing that? Why I'm a Cuban- American that's how. If it should be ok for me to go, why shouldn't it be ok for Beyonce and Jay-Z?

Early afternoon anyway.

Some investment advice - Louisville (-4) over Michigan, 6 units (+26 units for MM.) Soccer bonus - ManU pick over ManCity.

Open Thread.

Ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died. The BBC is providing live coverage of the world's reaction.

She died after suffering a stroke at the Ritz Hotel, where she had been staying since December. She was 87.

She was Britain's first female Prime Minister, and served in that capacity from 1979 to 1990.

R.I.P.

A US airstrike in Afghanistan yesterday targeting a Taliban leader killed 11 children. Also yesterday, 6 Americans including a young female diplomat were killed in a suicide bombing:

The battle unfolded on Saturday, the same day that a total of six Americans, including three U.S. soldiers, died in violent attacks. In addition to the U.S. adviser killed during the operation in the east, two others — a female foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department and an employee with the U.S. Defense Department — died in a suicide bombing in southern Zabul province during a trip to donate books to Afghan students.

The war is in its 12th year, and this was one of the most violent weeks to date.

There are about 100,000 international troops currently in Afghanistan, including 66,000 from the United States. The U.S. troop total is scheduled to drop to about 32,000 by early next year.

More on the Americans killed here.

There is college basketball today. My interest is purely investment related: Louisville (-10) (3 units), Michigan (-2) (5 units.)

31-23 ATS, +24 units for MM.

Open Thread.

Busy day for me. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

President Obama's new budget is likely to include cuts to Medicare and Social Security. About the only details being leaked are:

• a change in the way inflation is calculated which is likely to result in social security recipients receiving less
• cuts in payments to medical providers and drug companies (which will mean fewer doctors for the elderly, a group that is rapidly increasing in size)
• Medicare premiums will be higher for those in upper income brackets.

In exchange for the cuts, Obama is said to be demanding Republicans agree to the tax increases he proposed last year, including higher taxes for wealthier Americans.

Another Obama suggestion: More taxes on cigarettes to cover making pre-kindergarten free nationwide.