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- President Obama cleared the way for enacting widespread EPA review of emissions standards for vehicles, issuing executive orders to fast-track applications from 14 states pushing for tougher standards for cars and trucks. This follows Obama's directive to freeze construction of new coal-burning plants, Henry Waxman's aggressive stewardship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Hillary Clinton's selection of Todd Stern to be chief envoy on global climate change for the U.S. State Department.
- By my reckoning, the conservative argument for opposing the economic stimulus package now appears to take one of the following forms: they argue the stimulus wastefully spends money on contraceptives and park services. They believe the public is opposed to using federal money to meet state budget shortfalls. They believe a successful stimulus would help Democrats electorally both short- and long-term. They believe it is their duty to be as partisan as the Democrats were when they didn't agree to destroy Social Security in 2005. They are concerned about the findings of a CBO report that doesn't actually exist.
- William Kristol, esteemed public intellectual and carrier of the torch for neconservatism, will no longer be regaling us with his weekly phoned-in columns, the Times citing "mutual agreement" to end 54 weeks of endless banalities and factual errors. Scott Horton has more on the behind-the-scenes of this trivial matter that has inexplicably become news.
- Opposition to economic stimulus isn't the only area where the principled opposition has resorted to whining, demagoguery and deception in an effort to remain relevant to the political conversation. Indeed, this new "NIMBY defense" has the makings of an instant classic, especially the tendency to portray terrorists as devious and skilled enough to indoctrinate other inmates -- if only they could penetrate our borders! Back in the real world, CIA director-designate Leon Panetta's confirmation hearing has been pushed back, and Jane Mayer takes us "Behind the Executive Orders."
- Rod Blagojevich is, I must say, a real piece of work. After comparing his travails to those faced by Naval personnel at Pearl Harbor and blowing off his impeachment hearing, his own lawyer has taken himself off the case, leaving the Governor to defend himself on television by comparing his struggle for freedom with that of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Sen. Russ Feingold has introduced a perfectly reasonable Constitutional amendment that would require a special election to fill any Senate vacancies which, in all likelihood, will not not even come to a floor vote. A Saturday Washington Post editorial puts the case in the context of the controversy surrounding several recent high-profile appointments, Dylan laments the glacial amendment system we must grapple with, and Nate Silver makes the case that now is actually a good opportunity to get the necessary 3 quarters of states on board to pass the thing.
- Looks like John McCain isn't poised to be Barack Obama's secret weapon in the Senate after all. Not only has the one-time presidential rival rightfully criticized Obama's approval of a waiver for William Lynn's lobbyist past, but he is also siding with his party on stimulus bill obstruction, claiming the legislation needs more tax cut voodoo.
- Weekend Remainders: Abu Ghraib, now under new management, India versus Richard Holbrooke, more on delaying Tom Daschle, the Sunday Times profiles Rahm Emanuel, and the "urgent" sub-cabinet positions that need filling.
--Mori Dinauer
