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• As a result, they seem likely to spend the spring and perhaps a good part of the summer struggling to escape a bind of their own making. And this time, Medicare and the rest of the government's benefit programs are likely to face changes.
• Already, the two sides are laying down markers.

• Obama called on Congress on Tuesday to join him in developing a replacement for the across-the-board reductions, "a balanced mix of spending cuts and more tax reform."
• ___

• IRVING, Texas (AP) -- The Boy Scouts of America's policy excluding gay members and leaders could be up for a vote as soon as Wednesday, when the organiza

tion's national executive board meets behind closed doors under intense pressure from several sides.
• BSA announced last week it was considering allowing troops to decide whether to allow gay membership. That news has placed a spotlight on executive board meetings that began Monday in Irving, Texas, where scouting headquarters is located.
• BSA spokesman Deron Smith said last week that the board could take a vote Wednesday or decide to discuss the policy, but the organization would issue a statement either way. Otherwise, the board has remained silent, with reporters barred from the hotel where its meetings are taking place.
• At nearby BSA headquarters, a handful of Scouts and leaders delivered petitions Monday in support of letting gay members join. The conservative group Texas Values, meanwhile, says it has organized a Wednesday morning prayer vigil urging the Scouts to keep their policy the same.
• President Barack Obama, an opponent of the policy, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an Eagle Scout who supports it, both have weighed in.
• ___

• MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) -- As FBI and police negotiators spent days seeking to coax an Alabama man into freeing a 5-year-old boy held hostage in an under

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