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 Greetings, A late-evening edition tonight: The Obama team released their budget today. Here are some of the interesting assumptions: The budget and its projections assume a robust economy in the next presidential term. It assumes 2.8% GDP growth in 2012, increasing to 3% in 2012, 3.6% in 2013 and 4.1% in 2015. And then slowing back down to 2.5% in 2020. By contrast the CBO assumes just 1% growth in 2013. The deficits in this budget are massive too. Obama's budget team is projecting deficits $3.6 trillion higher over the next decade than in the Congressional Budget Office's baseline projection. And get ready for national debt of $25.9 trillion by 2022. The budget document continuously mentions Europe's ongoing crisis as the biggest potential risk to U.S. economic growth. Find all our budget coverage here. Observing the Republican polls showing Rick Santorum surging, Grace Wyler writes: The numbers underscore a strange fact about the Republican race, one that has been largely overlooked by both the campaigns and the pundits/media handicappers. Santorum is actually the biggest threat to Romney's inevitability as the Republican nominee. The latest polls indicate that Santorum's new supporters were initially inclined to support the presumptive frontrunner, but that questions about Romney's record have now led them to support a candidate they perceive to be more conservative. Read more here. Onto the rest: News You May Need: NYT: Washington state institutes legal gay marriage. WP: GOP will extend payroll tax-cuts even without additional spending cuts. FT: Euro Falls after Moody's downgrade. WSJ: Israel says Iran is behind the recent bombings. The Day's Reads: Brian M. Carney in WSJ: Fear and Loathing in Athens. Jeffrey Sachs: On budget ideas that don't just favor the rich and powerful. Paul Krugman on "severe conservatives" This Day In Politics: On February 13, 1945, Allied forces begin firebombing the German city of Dresden, a campaign ended more than 135,000 lives — more than both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not Politics But... In commemoration of the Westminster Dog Show (which this author loves), a thought-provoking piece from last November on the health-problems of bulldogs, and whether the breed (or breeding) can be saved. What's Next: Prepare for plenty of talk about Santorum vs. Romney in Michigan. This could be the key contest in the primary. If Romney can win it there, he puts to rest most of the doubts about his candidacy. Michael Brendan Dougherty Politics Editor
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