Media

Science Magazine - Jeffrey Mervis

Washington Post - Steven Mufson, Juliet Eilperin and David Nakamura

President Obama will present a federal budget proposal on Monday that would exceed restrictive spending caps mandated by Congress four years ago and propose new capital gains and bank taxes, an effort that will likely get bogged down in congressional opposition to taxes and big budget deficits.

Washington Post - Peggy McGlone

The Smithsonian plans to open its first international exhibition space at a new cultural complex being developed at the former Olympic park in London, officials announced Tuesday.

The deal would mark the first time in the institution’s 168-year history that it would have a public presence outside the United States. It also would make the Smithsonian part of an elite group of museums — including the Guggenheim in New York and the Louvre in Paris — that have opened venues in other parts of the world.

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear two competing portrayals of the global situation, along with visions of the role that America should play in it. In a world that becomes more closely-linked by the day through air travel, digital communication and trade, the steps and direction that our nation takes today with its foreign policy must be decisive, determined and constantly monitored.

The Hill - Rebecca Shabad

A Social Security fund that provides benefits to nearly nine million disabled people is projected to run out by the end of 2016, and a new House rule could cause headaches for majority Republicans during the upcoming push to shore it up.

The rule, which the House passed earlier this month, puts up a procedural roadblock against legislation that would redistribute the payroll tax to replenish the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund.

Lawton Constitution - Tiffany Martinez

The Guardian - Paul Lewis

When Barack Obama looked out into the audience of his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, he was met with a truly historic sight. No Democratic president in the last century has addressed a Congress dominated by so many Republican lawmakers.

The last time a US president delivered a State of the Union address in front of such a large number of Republicans was 1930. And that was President Herbert Hoover, a fellow Republican.