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- Specter Roundup: The other poll that made the switch more likely; the full list (since 1890) of Senate switches; committee chairs won't be decided until the next Congress; Specter's forgotten NYROB article; his stance on EFCA isn't changing; and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) leaves the door open for a primary challenge.
- The congressional budget conference committee has reached an agreement on Barack Obama's $3.5 trillion budget that retains the reconciliation option for health care and doesn't interfere with Social Security. A floor vote is scheduled for tomorrow, symbolically coordinating it with Obama's hundredth day in office.
- A New York Times/CBS News poll confirms much of the same information as yesterday's Washington Post/ABC News poll, with Obama receiving a 68 percent approval rating, broad support for his agenda, and only 20 percent of respondents carrying the flag for the GOP.
- A vote for HHS Secretary-designate Kathleen Sebelius is expected today, although that hasn't deterred the Family Research Council, which manages to connect the dots between the swine flu pandemic and "rushing" the nominee through Congress.
- Deep Thought: It wasn't too long ago that the conservative counter-establishment used to be respected and feared.
- Remainders: "Gingrich is a pseudo-intellectual con man"; Democrats push for rate caps on the usurious credit card industry; Rick Santorum is apparently a very stupid (or mendacious) man; Sanchez gets up in DeMint's grill about the GOP's "tent of freedom"; and Bachmann gets to show off her policy chops.
--Mori Dinauer
