The Short List - April 6, 2011

Sorry for the slacking Short List fans, but I've got a laundry list of links for you this morning.

• Libyan rebels contemplate a de facto two state stalemate after recent military defeats.


• Gbagbo "on the brink" of yielding power in the Ivory Coast albeit from a bunker.  In case he has second thoughts, forces loyal to Ouatara have launched an attack(NYT) against Mr. Gbagbo's bunker.


• Yemeni president Saleh continues to look for an exit, but is adamant about departing his way.


• SecDef Gates is in Saudi Arabia today to meet with King Abduallah.  Reportedly on the agenda is a discussion of a US-KSA arms deal.  Decidely not on the agenda, is a discussion of KSA's military intervention in Bahrain last month.


• Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelly has been declared the winner of the presidential election in Haiti.  His election is a watershed moment in Haiti's political movement, but Haiti remains a country with a broken infrastructure, if filled with resilient people.


• The federal government careens toward a shutdown as a summit at the White House yesterday yielded nothing, except Speaker Boehner suggesting he'll pursue another $7 billion in cuts past the $33 billion that had been floated around a week ago.


• Even as the budget fight over FY2011 rages, the fight over FY2012 begins.  Rep. Paul Ryan has unveiled the Republican budget proposal for 2012, but it goes way beyond that as the proposal seeks to end Medicare and Medicaid as people have known them for year.  Here are articles from The Washington Post and The Economist, as well as, Rep. Ryan's op-ed in WSJ.  Ezra Klein breaks down the key points of the proposal.  Fact Checker explores if Rep. Ryan's rhetoric matches the facts.  The CBO has a preliminary analysis that indicates seniors would pay more under Ryan's plan versus existing Medicare and Medicaid recipients would simply receive less aid.  Paul Krugman considers the Heritage Foundation's employment projections if Ryan's plan is implemented.  Matt Yglesias on why we should question promises made by the Heritage Foundation.


• Finally, this is a MUST READ article on the role Islamist fundamentalism in the context of the Arab Spring from The Economist.  If you know next to nothing on this subject, you should read this.