BOBBY JINDAL: While some of the projects in the [stimulus] bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes . . . $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a magnetic levitation line from Las Vegas to Disneyland . . .

New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Louisiana's transportation department plans to request federal dollars for a New Orleans to Baton Rouge passenger rail service from the same pot of railroad money in the president's economic stimulus package that Gov. Bobby Jindal criticized as unnecessary pork on national television Tuesday night.

So much for Bobby Jindal's "principles."

The word is out on what ABC calls the most stunning, shocking, dramatic and emotional finale ever for ABC's The Bachelor, airing Monday night. This season's star is Jason Mesnick from Kirkland, Washington who lives with his brother and four year old son. He almost got picked last season by bachelorette Deanna Pappas, but Deanna picked Colorado Snowboarder Jesse Csinscak (my favorite) instead. Then Deanna dumped Jesse. You can read my last interview of Jesse here and you can see Deanna make a inconsequential comeback on Jason's show Monday.

The internets have been on fire about the finale for a month now. Tonight, it seems, there's no more debate, the ending is in the bag and those who were in attendance for the taping of the final aftershow today, which will air March 3,have leaked the details, despite being warned they would face a $5 million penalty for doing so. [More...]

Like Ezra Klein, I have taken to watching White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' daily briefings. Before I wondered if his style really worked in that slot (Gibbs was very very good during the campaign.) I must admit he is really coming into his own now. Anyway, Ezra spotted this exchange:

Q On jobs, which is the big complaint up on Capitol Hill right now from Republicans, that this plan is a job killer, I mean, the $787 billion plan was all about jobs more than anything else, and now you've got a plan in place that -- how can you possibly tax people making over $250,000 something like $667 billion over the next 10 years and not have a downward effect on jobs?

MR. GIBBS: Well, Chip, how did it work in 1994 and 1995 and 1996 and 1997?

Great answer. And a great corollary would be how did cutting taxes during the Bush years work out for the economy? Yes, Bill Clinton did some good things. Glad to see Gibbs is not afraid to say so.

Speaking for me only

This is pretty funny from Chris Bowers:

In September of 2007, President Obama refused to promise to remove all troops from Iraq by January 20th, 2013. Now, he has promised to remove them all by December 31st, 2011. That is a positive shift. This is huge for no residual forces proponents.

Heh. Now I support President Obama's policy, and always understood the residual forces "issue" to be nonsense (I think Richardson did not even know what he was saying when some seized upon it as a rallying cry.) But I like Chris' declaring victory on the "issue" - so residual forces for 3 more years is "victory" now for the anti-"residual forces" folks. Well, good for Chris. Me, I think the declaration of a date certain for the end of our combat mission in Iraq is the big win here. But to each his own.

Speaking for me only

Here's a question, who thinks Citigroup is solvent? Please find "experts" not named Geithner or not working for Citi who think it.

This is an Open Thread.

Paul Krugman coined the memorable phrase "GOP Says World Is Flat; Dems Disagree" as an example of what "journalism" is today - "He Said, She Said" emptiness. Fred Hiatt, unsurprisingly, confirms this view today:

[T]he Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, Friends of the Earth, and Media Matters for America sent a joint letter to the Post reiterating the call for some form of correction or clarification . . . “George Will is entitled to his own opinions, but he is not entitled to his own facts,” the letter concluded. . . . But the Post’s position remains the same.

[More...]

Morganthau is a legendary figure in New York legal circles. From Wikipedia:

Morgenthau graduated from Yale Law School in 1948 and joined the New York law firm of Patterson, Belknap & Webb, becoming a partner in 1954. In 1961, after twelve years of practicing corporate law, Morgenthau accepted an appointment from President John F. Kennedy as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. . . .

Morgenthau was elected to the office of District Attorney of New York County [in 1974.] This was a special election caused by the death of Frank S. Hogan who had served as D.A. for over thirty years.He was elected to a full term in 1977 and has been reelected seven times. He has not been opposed in a general election since 1985.

It will be the end of an era.

National Journal's weekly Washington Insiders and Bloggers Poll asked the following questions:

Do you expect another economic stimulus plan will be necessary in the next year?

How concerned are you that federal economic recovery aid has gone or will go to people and businesses that don't deserve it?

I'll ask the second one here in a poll below.

It appears that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner simply will not bite the bullet. NYTimes:

[T]he Treasury Department announced on Friday that it would vastly increase its ownership of the struggling company. After two multibillion-dollar lifelines failed to shore up Citigroup, the government will increase its stake to 36 percent from 8 percent.

Under the deal, the Treasury Department has agreed to convert up to $25 billion of its preferred stock investment in Citigroup into common stock, giving taxpayers more risk, but more potential for profit if the company recovers. The Treasury will convert its stake to the extent that Citigroup can persuade private investors, including several foreign government investment funds, to go along. . . . The Obama administration deliberately stopped short of securing a majority or controlling interest in Citigroup . . . Taxpayers, after pumping more than $45 billion into the bank, have become Citigroup’s single largest shareholder. The government will not put in any additional money for now, but some analysts believe Citigroup may require more down the road.

This is simply ludicrous. Bite the bullet now Geithner. "Temporary takeover" of Citi is inescapable. Start fixing the problems now.

Speaking for me only

NYTimes:

President Obama heads to one of the nation’s most storied military bases Friday morning to unveil plans to pull most troops out of Iraq by August 2010. . . .“The combat, current combat mission in Iraq will end on August 31, 2010,” a senior administration official told reporters . . . At that point, the U.S. forces remaining in Iraq will undertake a new mission, a more limited mission.”

. . . After August 2010, the Obama plan will leave behind 35,000 to 50,000 of the 142,000 American troops now in Iraq to advise and train Iraqi security forces, conduct discrete counterterrorism missions and protect American civilian and military personnel working in the country, including State Department reconstruction teams.

Unlike some on the progressive side, who railed vehemently against the concept of residual troops (Bill Richardson became their favored candidate during the primaries because he said he was against leaving residual troops), I always thought this approach was reasonable. I support President Obama's policy. For an intelligent opposing view, here is Robert Stein. I've added a poll question below on whether you support or do not support President Obama's Iraq policy.

Speaking for me only

The Obama Administration will charge Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri with criminal terrorism charges. The NYTimes claims Al-Marri is "the only enemy combatant to be held on American soil." On Rachel Maddow's show, the invaluable Jane Mayer seemed to contradict this claim, but perhaps she is referring to persons held overseas, such as in the American base at Bagram, Afghanistan.

Mayer made an another important point - the theory upheld by the Fourth Circuit, that a President can unilaterally declare a person an unlawful combatant and thus hold them indefinitely will remain untested.

It seems unlikely that President Obama will attempt to exercise such raw power, but the theory remains. What would be better would be if the Obama Administration expressly renounced the Bush Administration position on this issue.

President Obama's 2010 budget was released today. It amounts to $3.55 trillion and, according to the Washington Post, will push the deficit to $1.75 trillion.

Included is a $634 billion health care fund. How will it be paid for? In large part, by increasing taxes on those earning more than $250,000. [More...]