There is mounting evidence that the economy is in difficulty. In addition to the now rote +400k new jobless claims weekly report, yesterday, Brad DeLong discussed the downward trending estimates of economic growth:

Time to push the panic button. Macroeconomic Advisers is revising their tracking forecast of real GDP growth in the second quarter. It now looks as though, come July 1, that there will have been no gap-closing in the six quarters since the start of 2010.

Krugman writes:

Bill Clinton talked some nonsense yesterday about Medicare and how Dems should address it politically and in terms of policy:

"So anyway, I told them before you got here, I said I’m glad we won this race in New York," Clinton told Ryan, when the two met backstage at a forum on the national debt held by the Pete Peterson Foundation. But he added, “I hope Democrats don't use this as an excuse to do nothing.”

This is ridiculous coming from Clinton, who rejuvenated his political fortunes by drawing a line in the sand on Medicare and Medicaid cuts in his budget and debt ceiling battles with Newt Gingrich in 1995 and 1996:

Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has found a place to live pending trial, and moved in tonight. It's a luxury townhouse in Tribeca that was on the market for $14 million and costs $50k a month to rent.

The DA's office has beefed up the prosecution team, replacing the current prosecutor with two senior prosecutors. [More...]

The Chicago terror trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana continued today with more testimony from former DEA informant and admitted Mumbai attack planner David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani.

The Court ordered the Government's Santiago proffer unsealed today, on motion of the Chicago Tribune. Here it is skip to page 18 where the facts begin.

Via Colin Freeze, Globe and Mail reporter who's live-tweeting the trial, Headley testified he worked for the DEA for two years after becoming involved with LeT. The DEA first sent him to Pakistan in 1999. (They sent him again in December, 2001.) He said he stopped working for the DEA in 2002. He also attended his first LeT training camp in Feb. 2002. Here's a timeline, and here are the docket entries from his last heroin case. (It wasn't his first bust or the first time he worked his way down to a low sentence by cooperating with the DEA.) [More...]

John Edwards has added some heft to his legal team: former White House Counsel Gregory Craig. Craig released this statement today:

“John Edwards has done wrong in his life – and he knows it better than anyone but he did not break the law. The government’s theory is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. It is novel and untested. There is no civil or criminal precedent for such a prosecution. The government originally investigated allegations that Senator Edwards’ campaign’s funds were misused but continued its pursuit even after finding that not one penny from the Edwards campaign was involved.

The Justice Department has wasted millions of dollars and thousands of hours on a matter more appropriately a topic for the Federal Election Commission to consider, not a criminal court.”

Craig says Edwards is prepared to fight. My translation: If the Government offers a misdemeanor, there's still room to talk, particularly before the Indictment is returned. [More...]

The experts and the Judge agree: Jared Loughner is mentally incompetent to stand trial.

What's next? He goes to the federal medical center at Springfield, MO for up to four months where they will medicate him and try to make him competent. If it works, he'll stand trial. If not:

If he isn't deemed competent at the end of his treatment, Loughner's stay at the facility can be extended. There are no limits on the number of times such extensions can be granted.

If the Judge decides at some point it's unlikely he can be restored to competency, the charges could be dismissed. He's still unlikely to be released. [More...]

Via TPM:

MSNBC host Ed Schultz is known for his hyperbolic attacks on Republicans but it looks like he may have crossed the line on his show yesterday by labeling Laura Ingraham a "right wing slut." "President Obama is going to be visiting Joplin, Mo., on Sunday but you know what they're talking about, like this right-wing slut, what's her name?, Laura Ingraham?" he said on his radio show. "Yeah, she's a talk slut. You see, she was, back in the day, praising President Reagan when he was drinking a beer overseas. But now that Obama's doing it, they're working him over."

You know how I know it was sexist? Because if it was a man, he would not use that word.

Speaking for me only

The defense called Rahm Emanuel today in the retrial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Emanuel was on the stand for 3 minutes.

In quick fashion, Sorosky asked Emanuel if anyone had ever asked him when he was congressman in 2006 to have his brother arrange a fundraiser for the governor in exchange for release of a $2 million grant to a school in Emanuel’s congressional district.

"No,” Emanuel said curtly. The mayor also said “no” when questioned if he had ever been asked to set up a nonprofit for Blagojevich to run in exchange for a appointing Obama friend Valerie Jarrett to the U.S. Senate.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. also testified as a defense witness today. [More...]

Via David Nir, the winning candidate in the NY-26 special election mentions Medicare and raising taxes on the rich:

Tonight we showed that many voters are willing to ignore a party label and vote for the person and for the message they believe in. We showed that thousands upon thousands of voters are more powerful than millions of dollars in outside money. We showed that our grassroots army – including thousands of donors and thousands of volunteers, who knocked on more than 53,000 doors and made more than 77,000 calls and over the last four days –could overcome our enrollment disadvantage and the fact that we were outspent by more than 2-to-1.

[. . . W]e can balance our budget the right way—- not on the backs of our seniors——but by closing corporate loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas, and ending subsidies to Big Oil and yes, by making the multi-millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share.

And we can ensure we do not decimate Medicare. We will keep the promises made to our seniors who have spent their lives paying into Medicare, so they can count on health care when they need it most.”

(Emphasis supplied.)

Very very strange reaction from the White House on Kathy Hochul's victory in the NY-26 special election:

President Obama congratulated the winner of Tuesday's special election in upstate New York, in a statement that didn't mention Medicare: "I want to extend my congratulations to Congresswoman-elect Kathy Hochul for her victory in New York's 26th Congressional District. Kathy and I both believe that we need to create jobs, grow our economy, and reduce the deficit in order to outcompete other nations and win the future. Kathy has shown, through her victory and throughout her career, that she will fight for the families and businesses in western New York, and I look forward to working with her when she gets to Washington."

Steve Israel said there were three issues in this race -- "Medicare, Medicare and Medicare." Obama could not say the word even one time. That's troubling.

Speaking for me only

Seniors vote. Always have and always will. Let seniors get a whiff that you will vote against their interests, then you should be scared. Last night, Dems won a special election in a very red congressional district, NY-26. The issue was Medicare and the GOP plan to dismantle it. How will the GOP react? Almost as interesting is how will Obama and the Dems react. The guy in charge of electing more House Dems, Steve Israel, was hammering on Medicare:

This isn't about a three-way race," said Israel. "This is about three issues: Medicare, Medicare and Medicare. Independents and seniors, if you look at the polling, are voting for the Democrat and when you ask them why, they say Medicare.

Some Dems seem willing to throw away the issue (see Steny Hoyer.) I trust the Obama Team will have more sense than that, but who knows? Paul Ryan, now the face of the GOP on Medicare, seems unwilling to go away:

According to the news, things don't look good for John Edwards. The grand jury is winding down, and a decision is expected this week or next. I think the Grand Jury there meets on Thursdays, twice a month, but that could have changed.

Some say he'll either be indicted or have worked out a plea deal, but he won't get off scott-free. The likely charges, according to the anonymous sources: The money from Heiress Bunny Mellon, which he treated like a gift rather than a campaign contribution. [More...]