HUFFPOST HILL - Romneybot Install Self Into 2012 Race

Self-described future one-term president Michele Bachmann pushed ahead with her crusade against eyewear/abortion providers. No one has alerted the president that he might accidentally nominate a Democrat to be defense secretary. Citi employee Peter Orszag refused to sell out by working for the man at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. And Mitt Romney announced his exploratory committee through the one thing that truly "gets" him: a computer. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, April 11th, 2011:

MITT ROMNEY ANNOUNCES EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE - Human-robot hybrid Mitt Romney -- his software upgraded from the notoriously buggy 2008 version -- announced the formation of his presidential exploratory committee this afternoon via Twitter. "I am announcing my Exploratory Committee for President of the United States. Join us at http://www.mittromney.com #Mitt2012," the former Massachusetts governor tweeted, linking to the committee's website. The website only contains Romney's video announcement and his campaign logo, which looks like it could double for a really boring cruise line or, if flipped 90 degrees, a really weird toothpaste brand (ex-HuffPoster Tj Ortenzi investigated). The video was shot on location at the University of New Hampshire, presumably to underscore Romney's focus on the Granite State primary. "It's time that we put America back on a course of greatness with a growing economy, good jobs and fiscal discipline in Washington," he says in the video, debuted by complete total accidental accident ahead of the fifth anniversary of Governor Romney's enactment of Massachusetts' universal health care program. The campaign slogan is "Believe in America" (we guess "Eagle Fireworks 9-11 Thanksgiving Handgun Football Chef Salad Explosion" was taken). Whatever the case, Mitt's settings have officially been switched from "sleep" to "campaign." Good luck, governor. [HuffPost's Jon Ward]

A Democratic strategist emails Jon about the anniversary: "It doesn't matter if he announced on Dr. Kevorkian's birthday. Nothing neutralizes that issue for him."'

Dee Dee Myers: "He's lashed to that plan like Ahab to Moby Dick." [Editor's note: Or like his dog to that car roof]

Hey flacks: You should take a break from writing emails that begin with "I thought you might be interested in..." and add our new White House/Hill reporter Jen Bendery to your press list. It'll make her day ([e-mail]).

REVERSING IRS CUTS COULD SAVE MORE THAN BUDGET REDUCTIONS - Our government's inability to stymie fiscal bleeding suggests that it is suffering from some sort of fiscal platelet disorder. Sam Stein: "As part of the budget deal hashed out on Friday evening, lawmakers agreed that no additional federal funds would be used to hire new IRS agents.Then on Monday, the Government Accountability Office publicly released a study showing that, as of the end of fiscal year 2010, roughly $330 billion in federal taxes had never been paid -- an amount that, if collected, would represent nearly nine times the amount of savings as the budget itself."[HuffPost]

Tomorrow in Roll Call: "Roll Call's Kyle Trygstad, Steve Peoples and Shira Toeplitz take an in-depth look at the 2012 Senate landscape and evaluate where 19 races stand today, more than three months into the cycle. Just one competitive Senate race is set in stone, and eight are listed as Tossups."

Runing tomorrow in The Hill, Peter Schroeder and Erik Wasson on how Wall Street is preparing for the debt-limit dance.

DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - The National Employment Law Project warned in March that other states would copy Michigan's cuts to unemployment benefits. YOU WERE WARNED, AMERICA. "We saw a New York Times article on the vote in Michigan," Farrah Fite, a spokeswoman for Missouri Senate Republicans, told HuffPost on Monday. "That's where the initial idea came from." Now Missouri is all set to become the second state to cut state benefits to 20 weeks from 26 weeks. [HuffPost]

Rep. Barbara Lee's office says they're working with Speaker Boehner's office to reschedule a meeting for this week to discuss ways to pay for additional weeks of unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. Budget madness may preempt this meeting just like it preempted last week's meeting, however.

DC FOR OBAMA SUPER PISSED AT OBAMA - Obama's grassroots supporters in the District of Columbia are furious with the president for letting Republicans mess with the city as part of the budget process. "Just a couple of weeks ago we were ramping up to have a great kickoff to this new campaign," Adam Barr, founder of DC for Obama, told HuffPost. Now the enthusiasm has faded. "We may end up postponing indefinitely. We may also just hold it and use that time as strategy to fight back against the White House and Congress." In email blasts, Barr encouraged his group's 16,000 subscribers to attend a DC Vote budget protest outside the Senate Hart building on Monday afternoon. (DC for Obama is not affiliated with Organizing for America, Obama's campaign arm.) The Washington Post reported that Obama turned city funding for abortions into a bargaining chip in budget negotiations last week. Even worse, in Barr's view, Obama may also be giving away funding for needle exchange programs designed to crimp the spread of disease among drug users. "The needle exchange is most egregious of these riders," Barr said. The administration's own AIDS policy boosts needle exchange as one of five strategies for reducing the disease, Barr points out, and the rate of HIV infection among D.C. residents is nearly 10 times the national average.

It's unclear whether a needle rider will make it into the long-term CR. The city's nonvoting Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) told HuffPost Hill that a Democratic senator told her needles would be left out, but that the senator was not a direct party to negotiations. "I've got to see the language before I even trust a senator," she said.

Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to [e-mail]. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

SENATE GOP HOPING TO MAKE DEBT CEILING HARRY REID'S PROBLEM - With the battle over the debt ceiling looming -- one whose consequences could easily eclipse those of the recent budget battle -- Democrats are anxious that Republicans will run the country aground in a brazen act of political grandstanding. Jon Ward: "Senate Republicans could threaten to withhold support for raising it and force Democrats to pass it on a straight party line vote. One member of the Senate GOP leadership signaled this is the way the party might go...The thinking is that in the current political environment, the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection would run for the hills when confronted with the idea of taking such a politically perilous vote, and that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will in the end need Republican support to pass it." So maybe Republicans won't scream "Hissatsu!!!"and slam their conference into the ship of state. That's good. However Claire McCaskill might force the Senate to cut funding for -- hypothetically -- textbooks for poor kids. That's bad. [HuffPost]

"I think we have more leverage on the debt ceiling," Sen. John Cornyn told HuffPost Friday. "Because unless 51 Democrats want to vote to raise the debt ceiling and all the Republicans vote against it, they're going to have to give us something in the way of a systemic reform."

The White House wants a clean vote on the ceiling. "We cannot play chicken with the economy in this way. It's just too darn risky. It's not appropriate," Jay Carney said at his press briefing today. Echoing this sentiment, Rep. Peter Welch told Elise Foley that, "there's a growing awareness that we can't mess with the debt limit," he said. "If we try to leverage politics out of the debt limit, we're putting a gun to the head of the very fragile economy." [HuffPost's Elise Foley and Zach Carter]

@pwire: Boehner spotted in NYC today smoking a cigarette which he flung into the street before entering the 21 Club...

Included in the budget deal being hammered out are $1.5 billion in cuts to the president's high-speed rail initiative. Sam Stein: The White House was able to secure $8 billion in high-speed rail money in the 2009 stimulus package. The current level of funding was $2.5 billion-a-year. The cuts secured under the budget deal reached on Friday night brings the annual rail dollars down to $1 billion, though administration officials stressed that none of the lost funds would come from existing projects that have received grants." That's a lot of money, too much to simply focus on downgrading dining car options from Coke to Pepsi. [HuffPost]

TODAY IN SELLING OUT: BART STUPAK AND PETER ORSZAG - The former Michigan congressman, who retired last year allegedly because he was fed up with traveling back-and-forth to Washington and catching flack for his anti-abortion positions, is taking a Washington job with a law firm that has lobbied on behalf of Planned Parenthood. Stupak has accepted a partnership at Venable LLP, which as Dave Weigel notes, counts the women's health services provider as one of its clients. We're hearing rumors that in an attempt to out sell-out Stupak, Evan Bayh has inked a consulting deal with a boutique firm that does government relations work for gym membership peddlers, the manufacturer of the Empire's star destroyers, and that policeman who maced a baby squirrel. [Slate]

In a New York profile of Peter Orszag, the former White House budget guru rationalized his decision to bail to Citi: "I could have been totally comfortable doing something easy, going back to academe or a think tank, giving speeches, having a cushy consulting thing--ironically, which would have played off my White House experience much more than what I chose to do. Or I could have done something new, which would be harder." Seriously, we are sick and tired of being sick and tired of politicians exploiting their experience and connections to educate the next generation of Americans and deepen mankind's understanding of its methods of governance. Eff. That. [New York Mag]

"Robo" is a terrible and lazy nickname, The Huddle. Plus it's not fratty-enough for a Politibro. How about "Nighttime"?

CIA, NAVY CHIEFS TOP CONTENDERS FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY JOB - Yochi Dreazen is reporting that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to announced his retirement sometime this summer and that CIA Director Leon Panetta and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus are the top contenders for his job. Dreazen writes: "Most of the attention has centered on CIA chief Leon Panetta, a former White House chief of staff... Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, a former governor of Mississippi who has an unusually close relationship with President Obama. In the hallways of the Pentagon, many senior military officials believe it's Mabus--not Panetta--who'll be their next boss." Of course this will all change when the White House remembers that Panetta and Mabus are both Democrats and, as everyone knows, Democrats can NEVER be named defense secretaries by Democratic presidents (or Republican ones). Our guess: Secretary Coburn. Dark horse: Secretary Former Republican Candidate For Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Dale Peterson. [National Journal]

HuffPost Hiccup: We reported on Friday that Nancy Pelosi would bail on budget negotiations by flying to Boston that evening. We were incorrect. She had already bailed to Boston and returned.

JUDGE HANDS ANTI- SB 1070 ADVOCATES A VICTORY - Professional politician and hand-gazer Jan Brewer's appeal that the stay against her state's SB 1070 anti-immigration bill be lifted was denied today. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Brewer's request that the court reverse an earlier ruling that the law be blocked until the DOJ's legal challenge to it is completed. [AP/HuffPost]

"And who is Ben Smith?"

BACHMANN: I'LL BE A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT - After Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann wins her party's nomination for president and subsequently defeats President Obama in an unprecedented landslide, she will courageously serve just one term, despite the inevitable calls for her to stay on for another term and help cultivate the American Renaissance that will have flowered under her watch. "I'm a principled reformer, and my goal is to see the country turn around," she said in an interview with The Des Moines Register. "I'm also committed to being a one-term president if that's what it takes in order to turn things around, because this is not about a personal ambition." Try and mute your sobs, people. It's unseemly. [Via TPM]

"In a barn-burning speech to social conservatives here, Michele Bachmann called Monday for abolishing the entire tax code and the Department of Education, labeled Planned Parenthood the 'LensCrafters of big abortion' and slammed same-sex marriage advocates for going against what she called 5,000 years of human history." [Politico]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Happy Monday. Here's the "Chicks With Steve Buscemeyes" Tumblr. Have a great day.

Between his visit to the Lincoln Memorial and this, it's pretty safe to say that President Obama will soon start merging himself into Segway tours to trumpet the end of the budget crisis: "President Barack Obama surprised a group of eighth graders from a Colorado middle school on Monday, just days after they feared a government shutdown would scuttle their trip to Washington...Obama had mentioned the students and their trip in a speech he delivered late Friday night after lawmakers reached a deal to keep the government running. He spoke about a letter he received from Shalini Schane, whose son was among the students planning to come to Washington. Schane wrote to the president about the fundraisers and projects the students did to prepare for the trip, and their appointment to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier." [HuffPost/AP]

JEREMY'S WEATHER REPORT -Tonight: With the high temperatures and high humidity comes a chance of thunderstorms; I'm looking at a line to our west heading north east, but I am certain that others will pop up shortly after sundown. Tomorrow Rain and thunderstorms through the day. Thanks, JB!

COMFORT FOOD

- What created the Universe? Will mankind ever end warfare? How do I make an apple look like a swan? All big questions. One answered here: [http://bit.ly/dIuCYN]

- There's a good chance we've already posted "Cute Roulette" here, but it warrants another mention. [http://cuteroulette.com/#/]

- If a marching band playing Rage Against The Machine can't get you motivated, nothing can. [http://bit.ly/fDbpmB]

- You look like you need a painting of explosions, skydivers and sharks raining from the sky. [http://bit.ly/fIwrZw]

- America invented the Internet, the telegraph and now, at long last, the bacon bazooka. [http://chzb.gr/flZaci]

- A very detailed description of a very specific kind of short guy. [http://bit.ly/gOv5gq]

- For those of you behind the times on the Rebecca Black phenomenon, here's the latest cheaply-produced teen hit, "My Jeans" from Jenna Rose. It's...terrible. [http://bit.ly/gznyDn]

- Websites of cats and dogs telling secrets to each other are the Home Shopping Network porcelain doves of the information superhighway. [http://bzfd.it/egpU8l]

TWITTERAMA

@elise_foley: Not a fail, they're just saying hey. #bronod RT @ryanjreilly: #fail RT @TPM: ^@benjysarlin

@DukeStJournal: SPOILER ALERT: If you book Mark Penn to talk about Barack Obama, his answers may involve Bill Clinton. And nothing else.

@brianbeutler: I am announcing my Exploratory Committee for the Finest Burrito in the United States.

ON TAP

TONIGHT

6:30 pm: Due to redistricting, Tom Latham could primary against Steve King. The contest is being viewed by some as the Tea Party (King) vs. The Establishment (Latham). Interestingly enough -- in a really wonky, not-that-interesting way -- Latham's PAC is called the "America's Republican Majority PAC" while King's is the "Conservative Principles PAC." Indicative word choice, eh? EH? Anyhoo, this is just a roundabout way of telling you that Latham is having a fundraiser for his PAC [Trattoria Alberto of Capitol Hill, 506 8th Street SE].

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Albio Sires' campaign committee is titled, pretty unimaginatively, "Albio Sires for Congress." We'd love it if just once --- JUST ONCE -- a lawmaker amped up their committee's name a bit ("Let's Put Jim McDermott's Dope Ass Back in Congress," etc). Once again, we've gotten off track: He'll be at the Wizards game tonight [Verizon Center, 601 F Street NW].

TOMORROW

8:00 am: Sherrod Brown, taking a break from massaging his vocal chords with a cheese grater, gets cozy and talks swipe fees with the National Association of Realtors at a fundraiser hosted by the trade group [National Association of Realtors, 500 New Jersey Ave NW].

8:30 am - 9:30 am: If your name is "Saxby Chambliss," one might unfairly assume that your fundraisers mostly involve sitting on a rocking chairs in someone's front porch, sipping mint juleps and staring at crops. That assumption would be wrong, apparently. [The Monocle Restaurant, 107 D Street NE].

8:30 am - 9:30 am: If you attend Donna Edwards' campaign function, she might just bust out her White Stripes skillz again. For $1,000 of your Political Action Committee's hard earned cash, who wouldn't? [National Democratic Club Townhouse, 40 Ivy Street SE]

9:00 am - 1:00 pm: Despite his squeaky-clean appearance, Jason Chaffetz apparently loves to shoot crap out of the sky. Join Leave It To Beaveretz at his skeet-shooting fundraiser [Prince George's County Trap & Skeet Center - 10400 Good Luck Road, Glen Dale].

Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson ([e-mail]), Ryan Grim ([e-mail]) or Arthur Delaney ([e-mail]). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e

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