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- CQ Politics reports that over 100 members of Congress have been tied to a lobbying firm closely associated with John Murtha, who all went on to receive millions in earmarks and campaign contributions. Adam and Tim have more on this corrupt affair and the list of shame can be found here.
- Kathleen Sebelius is reportedly the top contender for Health and Human Services secretary following the fall of Tom Daschle, and Politico reports that health care reform will largely be in the hands of OMB Director Peter Orszag.
- The New York Times reports that the EPA will finally start regulating carbon emissions after ignoring a court order for years during the Bush administration. Significantly, the change "could accelerate the progress of energy and climate change legislation in Congress and form a basis for the United States’ negotiating position at United Nations climate talks set for December in Copenhagen."
- The rejection of stimulus money by some Republican governors is, unsurprisingly, merely posturing, as most state legislatures could override their governor's wishes and take the money anyway. Also, Joseph Cao -- the Republican who won William Jefferson's seat in a special election and subsequently flip-flopped on the stimulus vote -- is feeling the love of his constituents, who are organizing a recall petition.
- RNC Chair Michael Steele, whose election campaign is neatly summarized here, is planning, in his words, an "off the hook" PR campaign to apply conservative principles to "urban-suburban hip-hop settings." I think Ezra has a clever take on the GOP mindset.
- I'm quite surprised that Alberto Gonzales would willingly cooperate -- and say so on the record -- with Patrick Leahy's proposed truth commission, given his past performances, unless by "cooperation" he means showing up and patiently telling members of Congress that he suffers from chronic memory loss.
- Remainders: Christopher Hitchens -- literally -- gets beat down in Beirut; members of the Bush and Obama administrations team up to fight poverty; a Utah GOPer shares his enlightened views on homosexuality; Rick Santorum gets mistaken for an Islamic scholar; Joe Biden and Leon Panetta rightfully criticize Bush's foreign policy; the Obamas have some progressives over for cocktails to talk shop; Ben Smith frankly discusses David Paterson's handicap; and a Barack Obama sentence gets diagrammed.
--Mori Dinauer
