The Agenda

“If this is what it takes to get you on the heretofore lonely Screw Komen bandwagon, so be it. But you should not have a low opinion of Komen^tm because of their announcement on Wednesday. You should have a low opinion of them because they’re a fake charity run like any other company with a product to sell. In this case the product is a combination of guilt, pity, and hope dissolved in a weak acid and dyed a nauseating pink.”

The number of names on the U.S. “no-fly list” has doubled in the past year.

Republican senators, unhappy with the prospect of cutting one sliver from the Defense budget, now want to instead cut the rest of the government workforce by 5%.

Hey, look, one billionaire asshole is endorsing another billionaire.

So, who are the Super PAC contributors?

The Dodd-Frank financial regulation law in one easy graph.

When is White History Month?

“What a pathetic situation to be running for the President of the United States with nothing positive to say. All you got to do is try to tear your opponent down to where they get smaller than you are, that’s the Romney model.” – Newt Gingrich

The People’s House passes super-important legislation

The Republican-led House of Representatives yesterday overwhelmingly (395-27) voted to pass a bill that would prohibit those on welfare assistance from using their government-sourced largesse at strip clubs, liquor stores and casinos.

House Republicans introduced and promoted the proposal as a way to eliminate government wasteful spending. It has passed the House before, and they re-introduced it again hoping it will become part of a bill to extend the payroll tax credit, which both the House and Senate is expected to debate this month.

A solid move yet again by the House Republican leadership. That’ll solve all—er—none of the country’s problems, while cutting exactly zero dollars from total government spending. But nice work at passing a pointless bill that does nothing other than call out poor people for being poor.

Happy Groundhog Day

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, so that means, I guess, six more weeks of “winter,” or whatever you call 60+ degrees on the first day of February.

However,  Phil Connors is probably more right:  “I’ll give you a winter prediction: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.”

The Agenda

Today’s must read: How the Affordable Care Act so far is already more successful than anybody wants to admit.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has set 2013 as the target to end combat in Afghanistan.

In yesterday’s special election to replace Rep. David Wu in the Oregon 1,  Democrat Suzanne Bonamici cruised to a a 15-point  victory over Republican Rob Cornilles.

The generally-terrible Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the largest breast cancer organization, is cutting off its funding for cancer screening and education provided by Planned Parenthood. In general, I for the most part like Marcotte’s analysis: “In the end, the grant money is less important than the symbolism of Komen buying into the conservative myth of good-girl health care vs. bad-girl health care.”

President Obama’s approval rating in battleground Ohio has risen to an even 48%/48% split. Meanwhile, Mittens Romney has seen a drop in his at an uneven 28%(!)/56%.

Who benefits from the new Super PACs: “Republican groups outraised their Democratic counterparts by four to one, a fairly incredible ratio. This could very well be a year in which, stunningly, an incumbent gets outspent by the challenger.”

Kalydeco, the first drug to treat the cause of cystic fibrosis, has been approved by the FDA. It costs $300,000 a year, but the maker will give it to anybody who does not have insurance and makes under $150,000 a year.

The Indiana state senate (you know, the state that just passed that right-to-die-at-work law?) passed a bill mandating the teaching of religious life-origin stories.

Of six-pack abs and real girl bellies.

An awesome chart illustrating celebrity endorsements.

Twenty common grammar mistakes you probably made in the past half-hour.

“I’m not concerned about the very poor.” – Mittens Romney

Hump-Day Song of the Week: Life on the Ropes by Prague Ska Conspiracy

It’s like 60 degrees on the first of February in D.C., which definitely calls for some ska.

The Agenda

Prediction: Romney will win Florida tonight, probably by as much as 12-18%.

In case you were wondering, it is now officially too late for new Republican to join the nomination race and have even a scant chance of winning.

Of the television advertisements from the Florida primary, 92% were negative.

The economies of many of the states in the midwest are recovering faster than the rest of the U.S., which may boost President Obama’s reelection chances.

Restaurants are also doing better than they have in six years.

The rate of survival from injuries has been steadily increasing in Afghanistan over the past decade.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister warns that a UN resolution on Syria could plunge Syria into civil war.

Egyptian Justice Minister Adel Abdelhamid Abdallah sent back a letter from the U.S. ambassador pleading for an end to the travel ban that has prevented a number of Americans from leaving Egypt.

Stephen Colbert’s Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow Super PAC raised an impressive $825,400.

Best thing I read all day: Cerberus at Sadly, No! eviscerates Ross “Do That Thing” Douthat.

A student who took a picture of his teacher sleeping in class has been suspended.

“You know, in South Carolina we were vastly outspent with negative ads attacking me and we stood back and spoke about President Obama and suffered the consequence of that.” – Mittens Romney

New York Times Columnist Line of the Day

Today’s comes from David “Yawny-Pants” Brooks, who in his column today, “The Great Divorce,” writes:

I’ll be shocked if there’s another book this year as important as Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart.” I’ll be shocked if there’s another book that so compellingly describes the most important trends in American society.

Yes, that book is actually titled Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010. So, to old Yawny-Pants, the most important book of the year, the one that will tell us all about America, is exclusively about white people.

Virginia State Senator Janet Howell tries to attach rectal exam amendment to anti-abortion bill

Virginia is close to passing a bill that would require women seeking abortions to get an ultrasound first. It’s an absolutely unnecessary procedure, relatively expensive, and absolutely a cynical ploy to force women to possibly rethink their decision. What they call “see, look, it’s alive” really is a “haha, now it’s too expensive, enjoy being forced to birth a child.”

The bill will probably pass easily in the Republican-controlled Virginia legislature. On its way to passage, though, at least some folks are trying to bring gender equity to the debate:

Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax County, was dismayed enough by the bill’s progress that she tried to amend it so men seeking prescriptions for erectile dysfunction medication such as Viagra would be required to undergo a rectal exam and cardiac stress test.

She said that’s “only fair, that if we’re going to subject women to unnecessary procedures, and we’re going to subject doctors to having to do things that they don’t think is medically advisory.”

Her proposed amendment failed Monday, leaving Vogel’s bill on the verge of Senate approval.

The Agenda

As a Russian-backed diplomatic effort seemingly failed, a fight between Syrian rebel fighters and government forces has escalated.

Several Americans who have been barred by the Egyptian government from leaving Egypt are waiting at the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

The Obama administration today announced new rules expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act to allow military families to care for injured service members.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking to change a ridiculous rule that make public transportation projects worse. Related, the House transportation funding bill looks to be absolutely terrible.

The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would freeze federal worker salaries for another year.

Even if they don’t all agree on the spread, polls are generally pointing toward a Mittens Romney win tomorrow in Florida.

Hey, maybe sitting around and watching television won’t (necessarily) kill you after all.

Yay Austerity

Last week, we noted a report that seems to show that the U.K. is doing worse now than it was at the same point in the Great Depression. Here’s Little Professor Krugman yesterday on the topic:

Britain, in particular, was supposed to be a showcase for “expansionary austerity,” the notion that instead of increasing government spending to fight recessions, you should slash spending instead — and that this would lead to faster economic growth. “Those who argue that dealing with our deficit and promoting growth are somehow alternatives are wrong,” declared David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister. “You cannot put off the first in order to promote the second.”

How could the economy thrive when unemployment was already high, and government policies were directly reducing employment even further? Confidence! “I firmly believe,” declared Jean-Claude Trichet — at the time the president of the European Central Bank, and a strong advocate of the doctrine of expansionary austerity — “that in the current circumstances confidence-inspiring policies will foster and not hamper economic recovery, because confidence is the key factor today.”

Such invocations of the confidence fairy were never plausible; researchers at the International Monetary Fund and elsewhere quickly debunked the supposed evidence that spending cuts create jobs. Yet influential people on both sides of the Atlantic heaped praise on the prophets of austerity, Mr. Cameron in particular, because the doctrine of expansionary austerity dovetailed with their ideological agendas.

Thus in October 2010 David Broder, who virtually embodied conventional wisdom,praised Mr. Cameron for his boldness, and in particular for “brushing aside the warnings of economists that the sudden, severe medicine could cut short Britain’s economic recovery and throw the nation back into recession.” He then called on President Obama to “do a Cameron” and pursue “a radical rollback of the welfare state now.”

Strange to say, however, those warnings from economists proved all too accurate. And we’re quite fortunate that Mr. Obama did not, in fact, do a Cameron.

Friday Funny: Man vs Toddler

The Agenda

As part of an investigation into foreign-financed groups promoting democracy in the country, Egyptian officials have blocked six Americans, including Sam LaHood, the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, from leaving Egypt.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta today announced a vision of the military that will cut spending. The plan will include base closings and smaller raises.

A judge in Arizona has ordered that Alejandrina Cabrera be removed from the ballot for city council because she does not know enough English.

I guess the big story today is that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer doesn’t really like President Obama much.

The Federal Reserve announced that it will keep interest rates low until at least 2014.

Probably thanks to austerity measures, the United Kingdom is now doing worse now than it was at the same time during the Great Depression.

Congrats to Rep. Barney Frank, who announced he will be marrying his longtime partner Jim Ready.

According to a new poll, a majority of Americans would fire every member of Congress if it were a line on ballot. Of course, most of them will just go ahead and vote for their own representative again this year.

A new study shows that working in groups can lower intelligence, especially among women.

You should definitely watch Stephen Colbert’s interviews with Maurice Sendak: Part 1, Part 2. Seriously. They’re amazing,

“Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty bucket in his hand — that was a symbol of some sort for him — and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it, and I’m not certain he knew either.” – Bob Dole

Hump-Day Song of the Week: Concrete Schoolyard by Jurassic 5

Despite having heard this song over ten thousand times, and it having been released well over a decade ago, this is somehow the first time I’ve ever seen the video. Huh.

The Agenda

“Just 80 laws were completed in 2011, the lowest number since the Congressional Record began keeping an annual tally in 1947. That’s well short of the previous record of 88 in 1995, which was also a year when a new Republican House majority countered a Democratic president’s agenda with one of its own.” And Congress will probably do even less this year.

The Supreme Court ruled today in Jones v. United States that police violated the Constitution when they used a GPS device to track a car without a warrant. The ruling was unanimous but the reasoning was divided. SCOTUSBlog has more.

John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer, has been charged by the Justice Department for leaking classified information, including the identities of operatives involved in interrogations.

Mittens Romney is finally bucking to pressure and releasing his 2010 tax returns, as well as an estimate of his 2011 returns. He’s also going on the offensive against Newt Gingrich, who shellacked him in the South Carolina primary this weekend.

Illinois Senator Mark Kirk suffered a stroke this weekend and underwent surgery this morning.

Two years ago, President Obama promised to double exports in five years. Many scoffed. Turns out, we’re on track to do it.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was stopped by the TSA after refusing to be patted down while on his way to a pro-life rally. Because, well, the government can’t touch his body.

Welcome to Megan Fox or Mike Tyson Island

What I really love about this ad is that it basically says “Hey, Brazilians, learn English so you can come to America, where there are way too many beautiful women, unlike Brazil, where THERE IS CLEARLY A LACK OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN.”