President Obama has released some details of his proposed health care plan. While providing health insurance for all (with a hardship waiver for those that can't afford it, he's also proposing major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid:

[H]e'd like to squeeze an additional $200 billion to $300 billion over 10 years from the Medicare and Medicaid government insurance programs for the elderly, disabled and poor.

He said he'd do it through such measures as better managing chronic diseases and avoiding unnecessary tests and hospital readmissions. Savings from such measures are uncertain.

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Props to President Obama for taking Michelle out on a romantic date to New York last night.

It was exciting not just for the Obamas, but for the New Yorkers who got to view them, the restaurant chef and staff who served them, the diners in the restaurant who applauded as they left, the actors in the Broadway show they attended --- and the one that struck me the most, the surprised guy sitting next to Obama at the play. [More...]

This afternoon Vice President Joe Biden walked into M&D's, a local barbecue haunt in Denver, before speaking at a Middle Class Task Force at the Natural History Museum. He was a hit with the customers.

Tomorrow he gives the commencement address at the Air Force Academy.

I want to know where he was for dinner. The TL Kid and I were driving back from the Lowry area -- going west on Alameda -- around 6:00 pm. Around Quebec, he notices there are two cop cars parked on each side street. I suggest maybe it's "The Heat is on" D.U.I. campaign which relaunched this weekend. But we're in a boring, non-fancy, residential area. Would they be trying to get workers driving home after Happy Hour? Unlikely.

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The AP has an analysis today of President Obama's "shift to the center" on economic and national security issues. The most disconcerting line:

Afghanistan "could well be Obama's Vietnam, eventually," said James Thurber, a political scientist at American University.

Another analyst says:

"Obama calls himself a pragmatist. That often ends up with fairly centrist policies," Shapiro said. "In the end, the progressives, the left in Congress, will support the president even on getting a half loaf in health care rather than a full loaf," he added.

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The White House has released the first ever Citizen Briefing book (pdf), "composed of ideas submitted by ordinary people and reflecting the enthusiastic engagement from the public we saw throughout the course of Change.gov."

125,000 users submitted over 44,000 ideas and cast over 1.4 million votes, with the most popular ideas accumulating tens of thousands of votes each. This book contains some of the top ideas, broken into groups by issue area. You can tell how popular each idea was by looking at the number next to it – it represents how many people voted for the idea, with 10 points awarded for each positive vote.

The number one vote getter, by miles: Legalizing marijuana (90,000+ points, p. 26) Also high-up: Ending the war on drugs (40,000 + points) and Stop using federal resources to undermine states’ medicinal marijuana laws, (60,000+ points.)

Glenn Greenwald:

Ever since he was released from Guantanamo in February after six years of due-process-less detention and brutal torture, Binyam Mohamed has been attempting to obtain justice for what was done to him. But his torturers have been continuously protected, and Mohamed's quest for a day in court repeatedly thwarted, by one individual: Barack Obama.

Dick Cheney calls for transparency on torture. Barack Obama covers it up. It makes no sense.

Speaking for me only

I watched just the tail end of President Obama's press conference last night but have read the full transcript this morning and want to start by saying that, on paper, Obama's performance was brilliant. His command of the facts, the policies and concerns of the American People demonstrate why his approval ratings right now are so high and why I still have very high hopes for his Presidency. I noticed much less deference from the President for the Masters of the Universe of Wall Street. Perhaps the President has gotten tired of hearing their excuses, whining and dissembling. Perhaps the stress tests have opened his eyes. I get the feeling the Geithner's rope has been shortened on these matters. But actions will speak louder than words. More . .

President Obama is on TV talking about his first 100 days. I just tuned in. He's answering a question, off the cuff, going through a list of emotions from surprise to enchanted to humble.

It's refreshing to see him speak without a teleprompter.

Your reactions to the presser?

This is terrific news:

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said Tuesday he will support the nomination of an Indiana University law professor to head the Obama administration’s internal law office. Lugar, R-Ind., said Tuesday he will support the nomination of an Indiana University law professor to head the Obama administration’s internal law office. He is the first Republican to publicly declare his backing for Dawn Johnsen, whose selection to head the Office of Legal Counsel has grown into a fight about abortion rights and counterterrorism practices.

. . . Lugar has said that, barring something extraordinary, a president should be able to choose top aides even if they support policies the opposition party opposes. He has also said Congress should not require as many posts be reviewed and voted on; about 500 positions require Senate confirmation.

While Specter said he was not in favor of Johnsen, he has never said he would vote against cloture. With Lugar's open support of Johnsen, a GOP filibuster seems virtually impossible now.

h/t to Josh Glasstetter of PFAW. Speaking for me only

I just was on a call sponsored by People For the American Way, Alliance for Justice, National Women's Law Center, and NARAL Pro-Choice America regarding the war being waged by extremist Right Wing groups against Dawn Johnsen, President Obama's nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. As we have learned, the OLC is a very important part of any administration. Ms. Johnsen's views on torture and the right to choose have made her a prime target of the Right Wing machine.

Clinton Administration Solicitor General (and OLC head) Walter Dellinger and conservative legal scholar Doug Kmiec, who served as the head of the OLC during the Reagan Administration, spoke in support of Ms. Johnsen. In addition, Aviva Orenstein, Professor of Law at the Indiana University Mauer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana, a colleague of Johnsen's, also spoke on her behalf. More . . .

CNN:

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that he would "follow the law" as he weighed potential prosecutions of Bush administration officials who authorized controversial harsh interrogation techniques. . . "We are going to follow the evidence, follow the law and take that where it leads. No one is above the law," Holder said at an Earth Day event.

Of course, this is already proven untrue, as President Obama has stated CIA interrogators will not be investigated, much less prosecuted. We'll see what it really means in due course.

Speaking for me only

I watched some of Secretary of State Clinton's testimony before a House committee today. She was good. TPM has her exchange with Mike Pence (R-IN):