James Kwak writes:

To me, it sounds like Obama has decided to imitate Bill Clinton, except that he’s going to skip 1994 and jump right to 1995-1996–the years that gave us welfare reform and the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, among other things. Deficit reduction is a classic “Third Way” policy, but by doing it this way Obama is ceding ground to the government-haters (who just want to cut spending) without getting anything (future tax increases, or votes for health care reform) in return.

(Emphasis supplied.)The more important point, in my mind, is Obama is skipping 1993 - more specifically the 1993 Omnibus Tax Reconciliation Act:

The policy problem with the Obama Administration's silly political gimmick - the spending freeze - is that it basically accepts the idea that there is an immediate need to cut government spending when in fact there still remains an urgent need to increase government spending to spur our stagnant economy. If we were to treat the proposal seriously, and the Village will, then the Obama administration has completely undermined the chances for effective policy to address our economic woes. Mark Thoma writes:

[This] political trick[] [is] likely to backfire. How will this look, for example, if there's a double dip recession, or if unemployment follows the dismal path that the administration itself has forecast?

Brad DeLong writes:

The sequel to "Fired Up! Ready to go! Ezra Klein writes:

[T]his announcement, coming off a week when the administration pointedly refused to stand up for its health-care bill, is not the sort of thing that's going to excite the base. You can attend a lot of Democratic rallies without ever hearing the chant, "When I say 'spending,' you say 'freeze!' 'SPENDING!'"

"Punch the hippies! Punch the hippies!

Speaking for me only

You can hear the defenses now, but they are coming from fewer and fewer quarters. And they are become feebler - consider this one:

[T]he latest collective freak-out is over the proposed discretionary spending freeze that Obama will explain in the State of the Union address and that his administration is rolling out tonight. [. . .] What progressives should be concerned about isn't a spending freeze that is more symbolic than meaningful. [. . .] This stupid spending freeze is peanuts that won't mean anything in the larger picture. Congress probably won't go along with it anyway. [. . .] The best I can say for this bit of triangulation is that it polls well and it doesn't mean anything. The fiscal problems in Washington are endemic and unsolvable in our present system, and pretending the amount of money we're talking about here is even a drop in the bucket is just silly.

When this is the best that even an aspiring cheerleader can muster, you have to wonder about the political value of the politics of weakness being practiced by the Obama team. Here is Obama stalwart Nate Silver:

I'm about to start watching The Bachelor, "24" and Damages. Am I missing anything?

If you'd rather talk about the State of the Union address or health care or the war on terror, or whatever else is on your mind, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

And if someone figures out who "Person A" is in the Headley/Hana Indictment, please let me know. (It's not the same person as "Individual A" and "Member A".) How does Patrick Fitzerald come up with these designations....and why?

The U.K. is hosting a conference Wednesday on how to help Yemen. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending. (Here's a full list.) The State Department held a briefing today on Yemen. Here's the transcript.

Human Rights Watch has released this report on Yemen in advance of Wednesday's conference, with 7 recommendations for Yemen's allies. Center for American Progress has these recommendations. [More...]

On Jan. 15, we wrote about the Superseding Indictment returned against David Headley, formerly known as Daood Gilani, and Tahawwur Rana regarding the Mumbai attacks and alleged planned attack in Denmark. Also indicted were Retired Pakistani military officer Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Pasha)and alleged Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI) leader Ilyas Kashmiri. The U.S. Attorney's office released this detailed press release (pdf) on the charges.

Rana, who is still appealing the denial of bond, was arraigned today and pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Patrick Blegen, asked the court to appoint him under the Criminal Justice Act so he can be paid from public funds. [More...]

The NFC Championship Game did a monster rating (over 50 million viewers).

The "theory of change" proponent Mark Schmitt admits that maybe, just maybe, he got it wrong:

The theory wasn't just about winning elections -- it was about managing power. I thought that a patient engagement, even involving Republicans, was likely to bear dividends. [. . . A]s prediction for what would happen in the first year of an Obama administration, I have to admit, it doesn't hold up as well.

You think? Finally, Week 2 of the Australian Open is ongoing and there is a big match late late tonight (3:30 AM EST) -- Rafael Nadal v. Andy Murray. I like Rafa at (+125). Go Rafa!

This an Open Thread.

It has sunk in - the House will not pass the Stand Alone Senate bill. That is a political fact. Proponents of the Senate health bill seem to have accepted this reality - here is Ezra Klein:

Obama, who isn't particularly connected to this deal, can demand the Senate pass a reconciliation bill stripping [the Nelson deal] from the legislation. That's actually a pretty good narrative for the reconciliation rider. And the neat thing about a reconciliation bill is that Nelson can even vote against it -- as can eight of his closest Democratic friends. [. . .] The other thing that reconciliation rider will have to handle is the excise tax. [. . .] The unions might want to think about negotiating a raised limit for everybody [. . .] instead of letting themselves become the next villain in this process.

I doubt the unions are much concerned about being the GOP "villains." The excise tax itself will more likely be the "villain" anyway. The best result would be eliminating it.

Speaking for me only

The new season of "Damages" begins tonight on FX (10 pm ET). It's a fictionalized version of the Bernard Madoff case (without using their names of course.) The New York Times explains and gives it a big thumbs up, especially for Lily Tomlin who plays the financier's wife.

Rose Byrne is now a D.A. but she and Patty continue their complex and bizarre relationship.

Ali Hassan al-Majeed, aka "Chemical Ali" has been executed by hanging in Iraq.

A cousin of Saddam Hussein, Ali had been convicted of genocide and murder. He was sentenced to death in several trials. His last conviction and sentence was a few weeks ago.

Ali remained in U.S. custody from 2003 until yesterday, when the U.S. turned him over to Iraqis to be killed.

Bad news today for General Manual Noriega. The Supreme Court denied cert in his appeal of the 11th Circuit decision allowing France to extradite him to face trial on money laundering and drug charges there. (He was convicted in absentia but France has ordered a new trial.)

Scalia and Thomas would have granted cert. Noriega finished his 20 year drug sentence in 2007. He is the only prisoner in the U.S. classified as a "prisoner of war."

"Providing that guidance in this case would allow us to say what the law is without the unnecessary delay and other complications that could burden a decision on these questions in Guantanamo or other detainee litigation arising out of the conflict with al-Qaida," Thomas said in his dissent.

[More...]