Obama Not Going to Balance Budget 'Just for the Sake of Balance' - President Obama sat down with George Stephanopoulos today.

Watch more on GMA Wednesday, but first check out his thoughts on balancing the budget:

"And, so- you know, my goal is not to chase- a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. My goal is how do we grow the economy, put people back to work, and if we do that we're gonna be bringin' in more revenue. If we've controlled spending and we've got a smart entitlement package, then potentially what you have is balance. But it's not balance on the backs of, you know, the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans, families who've got disabled kids. That's not the right way to balance-" http://abcn.ws/15L1XST

Hack Attack - He also talked about the hacking of Michelle Obama's personal info.

"We should not be surprised that if we've got hackers that want to dig in and have a lot of resources, that they can access this information," Obama said. "Again, not sure how accurate but … you've got web sites out there that tell pepole's credit card info. That's how sophisticated they are." http://abcn.ws/XpTHrL

Here was our favorite headline of the day about Obama's charm offensive - from Yahoo's Olivier Knox - "Obama launches bold/doomed/cynical/hopeful outreach to Congress" http://yhoo.it/10ImZCy What's Your Definition of 'Balance?' - And our favorite bit of White House briefing verbal jujitsu. Jon Karl reports: http://abcn.ws/10J4Ww0

Blind QOTD on Charm Offensive -"This is a joke. We're wasting the president's time and ours," complained a senior White House official who was promised anonymity so he could speak frankly. "I hope you all (in the media) are happy because we're doing it for you." Another said the president was sincerely trying to find common ground with stubborn Republicans. "But if we do it," the aide hastened, "it won't be because we had steaks and Merlot with a few senators." Bling Blind Quotes from inside the White House to Ron Fournier - http://bit.ly/X3yAWr

Full Charm Offensive Story from Mary Bruce and Sunlen Miller (And how Obama got tough questions from Democrats on drones at lunch) - http://abcn.ws/10A6AfE

More States Banning Earlier Abortions? - Since 2010, 10 states have passed outright bans on abortions for women who have been pregnant for more than 20 weeks, and in some cases earlier. Before 2010, no states banned abortions outright at any stage of pregnancy. Nebraska started the trend with a 20-week abortion ban in April 2010. In 2011, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma followed suit, and in 2012, Arizona, Georgia, and Louisiana passed curbs of their own. Last week, Arkansas became the first state to approve an abortion ban this year. http://abcn.ws/WklQNI (Chris Good) Marco Rubio Rips U.S.-Cuba Travel: "Cuba Is Not a Zoo" - Sen. Marco Rubio recently slammed Americans who visit Cuba, including some of his Senate colleagues, saying that they are helping enable the island's communist government. http://abcn.ws/X443Yl (Jordan Fabian)

Santorum for Class President (of Citadel) - http://abcn.ws/ZGOjfu (Walshe) Obama Urges Brunei Sultan To 'Do Some Shopping' In U.S.- Meeting with the wealthy Sultan of Brunei today, President Obama couldn't help but joke that Hassanal Bolkiah could help boost the U.S. economy during his visit. http://abcn.ws/XGjPfZ (Mary Bruce) - George P. Bush Runs for Texas Office - George P. Bush is officially running for Texas land commissioner - ending months of speculation about which statewide office the grandson of one former president and nephew of another planned to seek. http://abcn.ws/ZGA1Oc Civil Unions Clear Colo. Legislature, Head to Gov - Civil unions for gay couples were a rallying cry for Democrats who took control of the Colorado House in last year's elections and vowed an early vote on the proposal. http://abcn.ws/Wl8cKo Survey: More Gun Owners Want Firearms for Protection - Nearly half of all gun owners cited protection as the main reason for owning a gun in a new survey released Tuesday - a vast change from a survey conducted nearly 14 years ago which showed gun owners mostly bought firearms for hunting purposes. http://abcn.ws/WG1eln (Arlette Saenz) Senate Committee OKs Gun Background-Check Bill - The Senate Judiciary Committee today passed a universal gun background-check bill on a strictly party-line vote: 10 to 8. http://abcn.ws/YXMbAT (Arlette Saenz)

Wanted - Silicon Valley Data Geek to Bring GOP Out of Microtargeting Wilderness. Send Resumes to Reince Priebus - http://abcn.ws/YXUxJ1

Laura Bush Says Republicans 'Frightened' Women - Some Republican candidates in the 2012 elections "frightened" women, says former first lady Laura Bush. http://abcn.ws/WkwxQt (Anjuli Sastry) US Airways Joins Delta, Asks TSA to Reconsider Knife Policy - US Airways CEO Doug Parker has asked TSA Administrator John Pistole to "reconsider" the decision to allow certain knives back into the cabins of commercial aircraft. http://abcn.ws/XFGKb0 (Genevieve Shaw Brown)

The World According to Dick Cheney: Former VP Gets Personal in New Documentary - Filmmaker RJ Cutler chronicles Cheney's four-decade-long career in new Showtime documentary. http://yhoo.it/ZiepFK (Power Players)

Annals of Shark Jumping: Will Politics Kill the Harlem Shake?: Con los terroristas! http://abcn.ws/Y6HA0e (Chris Good)

Some Gun Measures Broadly Backed But the Politics Show an Even Split - While Senate negotiators struggle for a deal on mandatory background checks at gun shows, the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds vast public support for the measure, as well as for a committee-approved step to make illegal gun sales a federal crime. http://abcn.ws/W52cqc (Gary Langer)

Sequester At Home: Welcome to Washington - Sure, the men and women who voted for sequestration won't take a hit in their paychecks, but nowhere will the federal government's $85 billion budget cuts be felt more acutely than inside the beltway. http://abcn.ws/ZEfJ86 (Sarah Parnass)

Just Two Cheers for Sheryl Sandeberg - National Journal had a few good things today. Here's Matt Cooper's answer to the adulation this week for Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and her book. He points out that she had a powerful position with Larry Summers during the Great Deregulation in the late 1990s. Which isn't to say, says Cooper that her accomplishments now should be denigrated or that her advice to women should be dismissed.

BUT - "it illustrates a larger point. One of the oddities of the financial crisis how little opprobrium has attached itself to those intimately involved. There's no social sanction attached to those who were in the vortex…" Cooper points to a sad letter from a former Lehman CFO with a Sanibel dateline. His larger point: "In the 1930s, former stockbrokers faced a bigger social sanction. We can forgive those who got us into this mess and still value their advice, but no hagiography, please. Three cheers for Sheryl Sandberg? Two is plenty." http://bit.ly/YYfjIp

Colorado Clears Civil Unions -http://abcn.ws/Wl8cKn