**The Budget
*AP: "President Barack Obama is sending Congress a budget Thursday that projects the government's deficit for this year will soar to $1.75 trillion, reflecting efforts to pull the nation out of a deep recession and a severe financial crisis. A senior administration official told The Associated Press that Obama's $3 trillion-plus spending blueprint also asks Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy in 2011 and cut Medicare costs to provide health care for the uninsured."

*"A little bird says the $3.7 trillion, 134-page budget is bound in Obama blue -- 'A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise,'" reports Politico's Mike Allen.

*Included as well is a "vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching an overhaul that most experts project will ultimately cost at least $1 trillion," Washington Post reports. Obama aides call it a "very substantial down payment" toward universal coverage, paid for by trimming tax breaks for top earners "and squeezing payments to insurers, hospitals, doctors and drug manufacturers."

*LA Times: "Obama's plan does not lay out details for expanding access to health insurance, in deference to senior Democrats in Congress who are at work on legislation to do that. Nor will the president weigh in on proposals under discussion to require that every American obtain health insurance, and to create a new public insurance program to compete with private insurers. Rather, the president's proposal to raise revenue is intended to signal his seriousness about moving the talks forward on Capitol Hill, said an administration official."

*The New York Times notes that the previously announced plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire, combined with the new proposal on tax hikes to pay for the health care fund, "would be a pronounced move to redistribute wealth by reimposing a larger share of the tax burden on corporations and the most affluent taxpayers."

*Bloomberg reports that the budget contains $205.5 billion for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which includes $75.5 billion through the end of '09. The total DoD budget is $534 billion, which is a 2 percent increase when adjusted for inflation.

*Despite the Obama administration's pledge to stop using gimmicks, "TBD" is listed several times for cost savings and benefit reductions, Washington Post reports. Still, "Congressional sources and others who have been briefed on the administration's plan say the president deserves some credit for making good on his pledge to 'restore honesty and accountability' to the budget process."

*Workload too big?: "Mired in partisan divisions, Congress has produced few bills of sweeping impact since the end of President George W. Bush's first term. Now Obama is asking lawmakers to deliver legislation on the scale of the No Child Left Behind education bill or the Medicare prescription drug benefit -- two of Bush's signature achievements -- roughly once a month," reports Washington Post.

**Congress
*Omnibus: "The House on Wednesday passed a $410 billion omnibus spending bill packed with pet projects requested by Democrats and Republicans alike. The 245-to-178 vote came just a week after President Obama signed one of the largest spending bills in the nation's history, a $787 billion measure meant to rejuvenate a sluggish economy," the New York Times reports.

*"The Senate is set to vote on the 2009 spending bill next week and is also expected to approve it. That would clear the way for work on other large-scale Democratic priorities, such as addressing the mortgage crisis and creating new regulations for the financial-services industry," WSJ reports.

*GOP Unity?: "This time, though, 16 members broke from the party line on a vote Minority Whip Eric Cantor had urged his colleagues to reject. And the cracks in the facade appear to be the first public signal of Republican rank-and-file squeamishness with a remarkably high-risk strategy that promises an uncertain return," Politico's Mahtesian and O'Connor report.

*D.C. Voting Rights Act: "Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, tried unsuccessfully Wednesday afternoon to kill legislation to give the District full voting rights in Congress. Mr. McCain called for a constitutional point of order to question the legality of giving the District voting rights. The vote failed 36-62," Washington Times reports.

**Burris Watch
*Bad news for Burris in the Chicago Sun-Times: His son "is a federal tax deadbeat who landed a $75,000-a-year state job under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich five months ago."

*Meanwhile, the Sun-Times reports that Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued an opinion saying that the state legislature can pass a law allowing voters to elect a new senator to replace Burris.

**Campaign Stuff
*NY-20: "For Republicans beleaguered by losses in two election cycles, hope has come in the form of New York state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R). Tedisco, running to fill Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-N.Y.) old House seat, is becoming an obsession for national Republicans, who tout his chances for returning the district to the GOP. If he does, Republicans will call it the first sign their party is back on track after so many devastating losses," reports The Hill's Reid Wilson.

*NY-Gov: The Observer reports that NY Gov. David Paterson has shaken up his entire staff, hiring former Clinton advisers Peter Kauffmann and Tracy Sefl for communications, and Stan Greenberg for polling.

**Speech Leftovers
*Who Invented the Automobile?: "President Obama, who will decide the fate of struggling Detroit automakers, may need to brush up on his industry history. In promising support in his speech to Congress Tuesday, he said, "I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it." Actually, history -- and the U.S. Library of Congress -- credits Germany," writes USA Today.

*Greg Sergent interviewed former President Clinton, who said that Obama's speech was successful in telling the nation "that we're gonna get out of this and it's gonna be alright in the end." "I think he drew the right balance -- he didn't sugarcoat anything, he didn't say it's gonna get better tomorrow," he said. He also said that the public mood has shifted in favor of health care reform, and thinks Obama will be successful -- a beter than 50-50 chance. He even praised Gov. Bobby Jindal, saying his speech only flunked because the GOP line is weak. "They're on very weak ground with their blanket opposition to the stimulus. He did the best job he could with a hard hand to play."

**Sports Alert: We've got courtside seats to the Wizards-Bulls game in D.C. tomorrow night, and we'll be booing the president's hometown team in favor of ours -- even though the Wizards stink.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli