Thanks to many loopholes in our tax code–the carried interest loophole being the most important–the richest people in American are likely paying a lower tax rate than you are.

In a mostly party-line vote, the House passed the budget proposal from Paul Ryan today, which would privatize Medicare and block grant Medicaid, by a count of 235-193. Not a single Democrat – not Heath Shuler, not Dan Boren, not Jim Cooper, not one Blue Dog – voted for the Ryan budget. By contrast, only four Republicans – Walter Jones, Ron Paul, 2012 Montana Senate candidate Denny Rehberg and freshman David McKinley (R-WV) – voted against the budget.

Whether it is due to economic hopelessness and despair or post traumatic stress disorder hopelessness and despair from serving in war, we are seeing too many suicides from people who seem to feel the world has left them with no other option.

President Obama penned a joint op-ed with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron about the situation in Libya. The President has been awfully quiet about the Libyan mission since announcing it would take “days, not weeks” four weeks ago. But this statement reaffirms the commitment, and actually goes further by all but announcing a policy of regime change.

Today, Ezra Klein made the logical and concise case for why Paul Ryan’s Medicare privatization plan wasn’t about health care cost control but just saving the government money by shifting more of the health care cost burden onto regular people.

The Republican argument is that the President wants to replace the deficit commission with another commission, but it’s more of a negotiation strategy than a commission. And Boehner and McConnell seemingly want to control that negotiation, which they can do easier with less members involved in it. Anyway, it looks like it won’t happen. And that’s good news for the suddenly ascendant “do nothing” strategy, which looks better with each passing day.

Yeah, I know — I can’t help myself. But look, I would’ve ignored this mostly useless Nooners piece had she not written this about the Republicans’ 2012 crop of circus geeks and snake handlers.

Congratulations, America, your federal budget process is now as efficient as New York State’s!

With security like this, the data Manning is alleged to have taken simply can’t be called secret. Limited access, maybe. But it’s not even clear we’re limiting access from the people who most seriously shouldn’t have it.

If you want to know about the impact of spending caps, just travel to Colorado.