Unlike just about everybody else in the blogs, I really do not care that Bill Daley will be the next Chief of Staff. I'm not sure it matters really -- Obama does what he wants anyway. I do think that Greg Sargent has hit on something about the Daley pick though:

Now that Daley has been picked, there will be a fair amount of commentary to the effect that Obama has wisely received this message [that he was too much of a "socialist"] and is in the midst of a course correction.

Indeed, Daley will be Obama's Dick Morris symbolically. I wonder if Daley will try and get credit as Obama's Dick Morris? That is mildly interesting to me.

Speaking for me only

Jed Lewison writes:

Boehner is doing his best to pretend that he has a strong hand, but let's not forget, if he were to actually carry out his threat and block an increase in the debt limit, the United States would go into default on its debt. [. . .] So unless Boehner's absolutely insane, he's running a complete bluff. [. . .] If Boehner ultimately goes along with a hike in the debt limit without securing the spending cuts that he promised to the tea party, teahadists will be furious. On the other hand, if Boehner decides to block the debt limit increase, sending the United States into default and shutting down the federal government, the rest of the country will be even angrier.

Behind Door Number 3 lies the 3rd Hand that apparently Lewison does not think possible - President Obama capitulates to GOP demands to cut spending.

Me, I'll take Door Number 3 as the most likely outcome.

Speaking for me only

Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are Constitutional - Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for a unanimous Supreme Court in McCulloch v Maryland

The House of Representatives spent the day reading the Constitution (or parts of it anyway) into the Congressional Record. They might consider reading from this 1819 Supreme Court case that discusses the Constitution and Congressional power created thereunder:

Open Thread.

Atrios writes:

David Ignatius:["]The best sign that the economic engine is really repaired would be a joint plan by the White House and congressional Republicans to trim the federal budget deficit over the next 10 years. [. . .]["]

Leaving aside the merits of such things, how the hell would some random policy decisions be a "sign that the economic engine is really repaired." [. . .I]n what possible sense would Congress doing some stuff prove that the economy is all better?

Of course Atrios is right, but you know who else plays the "a productive Congress means things are better" game? The Beltway Dem pundits and bloggers, led by Ezra Klein. How is their nonsense any less stupid than Ignatius'?

Speaking for me only

Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday convened the inaugural meeting of the Cabinet-level "Reentry Council." Established with grant money from the Second Chance Act, the council will focus on:

• making communities safer by reducing recidivism and victimization;
• assisting those returning from prison and jail in becoming productive, tax paying citizens; and
• saving taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration.

The goals:

The Reentry Council will meet semi-annually to leverage resources across agencies to reduce recidivism and victimization; identify evidence-based practices that advance the council’s mission; promote changes to federal statutes, policies and practices that focus on reducing crime; and identify federal policy opportunities and barriers to improve outcomes for the reentry community.

According to Attorney General Holder: [More...]

The grand jury investigation into John Edwards continues. Today, the grand jury heard from Lisa Blue Baron, the widow of Edwards' campaign finance chair Fred Baron. Blue was accompanied by her Washington attorney, Abbe Lowell. Where does Ms. Blue fit in the picture?

Reportedly, the grand jury is investigating whether Edwards' campaign funds were improperly diverted to Rielle Hunter. Fred Baron said the money he gave Hunter was personal money, not campaign related, and that Edwards didn't know about it at the time. According to Andrew Young (whose credibility is zero in my book) Lisa Blue was assigned the task of comforting Hunter on the phone during the time period he was tasked with babysitting her and pretending to be the baby's father.

Rielle Hunter, in her GQ interviewed said:[More...]

Filibuster reform is all the rage in the progressive blogs these days. I am not a fan of filibuster reform at this time for results oriented reasons. Now is not the time to make the passage of legislation easier, given the extreme GOP controlled House and a supine Dem President.

But I also have an objection on the philosophical merits to filibuster reform regarding judicial nominations. My old law professor Bruce Ackerman revisits this issue and turns back to an article he wrote in 2005, when opposing filibuster reform was all the rage in the progressive blogs.

My objections are, and were in 2005, as a matter of substance, to elimination of the filibuster to lifetime appointments to the Third Branch of our government, the Supreme Court. As Professor Ackerman says, "[m]y bottom line: the separation of powers should become a fundamental part of serious talk about the filibuster."

Speaking for me only

Via dkos diarist bobswern, the banks' personal Santa Claus Tim Geithner is giving out more gifts:

Financial stocks just caught fire. Someone must be getting bailed out, right? Why yes, say critics of the giant banks. They charge that Monday's rally-stoking mortgage-putback deal between Bank of America (BAC) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is nothing more than a backdoor bailout of the nation's largest lender. It comes courtesy, they say, of an administration struggling to find a fix for the housing market while quaking at the prospect of another housing-fueled banking meltdown.

"This looks to me like a gift from Tim Geithner," said Chris Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics. "There's politics all over this."

From the corrupt incompetent Tim Geithner? Say it ain't so. God bless all the banks! What a disgrace.

Speaking for me only

Digby:

On Hardball this afternoon Matthews was talking about "cut-go" with Todd Harris and Steve McMahon, the Tweedledum and Tweedledummer of the Village and he ranted and raved about how both parties promise spending cuts to bring down the deficit but refuse to give any big specific items that would really make a difference. [. . .] After Harris babbled for a while about "entitlements" destroying the country, Matthews again said how frustrated he was that Republicans always refuse to say what they will cut [. . .] McMahon piped up at that and said:

Bryan Cranston, the Emmy Award winning lead on AMC's "Breaking Bad" (where he plays a high school chemistry teacher who runs a meth lab while in remission from cancer) has a new series, available only on the web, called "The Handlers."

He plays a well-meaning politician running for state senate, who gets some really wacky advice from his incompetent handlers. The segments are only 3 minutes, and they are really funny. There will be 8 episodes in all, available on Atom TV. Here are the first two:

[More...]

In the college bowl games, I won with Stanford last night and hope to win with Arkansas (+4) (4 units) over Ohio State tonight.

Open Thread.