A GIFT, IF THEY CAN ACCEPT IT:

The afterglow of President Obama's reelection and inauguration appears to have vanished as increasingly negative views among Americans about his stewardship of the economy have forced his public approval rating back down to the 50 percent mark, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, President Obama rejected calls to balance the federal budget in the next ten years and instead argued that his primary economic concern was not balancing the budget, but rather growing the economy.

"My goal is not to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance." [...]

"We're not gonna balance the budget in ten years because if you look at what Paul Ryan does to balance the budget, it means that you have to voucher-ize Medicare, you have to slash deeply into programs like Medicaid, you've essentially got to -- either tax -- middle class families a lot higher than you currently are, or you can't lower rates the way he's promised," the president told me.

President Obama launched his Capitol Hill outreach effort Tuesday with an attempt to ease Senate Democrats' concerns about his willingness to negotiate entitlement reform with Republicans. 

But Obama stood firm when pressed to back away from benefit cuts during the meeting with the Senate Democratic caucus, according to lawmakers who attended. 

Follow @brothersjudd