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- The Washington Post reports that the economic stimulus package might not have enough votes to pass in the Senate, although it isn't clear whether these are cloture or floor votes. But the inescapable reality is that the minority party is now controlling the destiny of the stimulus package and President Obama's well-intentioned efforts at "bipartisanship" have backfired, leading the Post article to allure to the all-important sway of Senate "moderates," e.g., "[m]oderate Republicans are trying to trim the bill by as much as $200 billion," "unease also is stirring among moderate Democrats," "[t]he most ambitious effort to cut the bill is being led by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), moderates in their parties who share a dislike of the current version" and "Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), a moderate who has been considered the most likely GOP vote in favor of the plan, said yesterday that she cannot support it until items that would not do enough to stimulate the economy or create jobs are dropped." I can only assume that outside these "moderates" every other member of the Senate is a radical partisan, right?
- Brave moderates Snowe and Collins, incidentally, met with President Obama at the White House today to discuss watering down the stimulus bill, and Commerce Secretary-designate (and point man for the 2010 census) Judd Gregg has recused himself from voting on the legislation, effectively giving Republicans one guaranteed 'no' vote. The good news is that a corporate tax break of questionable utility has been removed from the stimulus package and Obama has begun laying the groundwork (one hopes) for defining Republican obstructionism in terms of the craven defense of a failed economic philosophy.
- President Obama has directed the Treasury Department to impose a $500,000 salary cap on executives whose firms receive federal bailout money, although the cap would not be retroactively applied. A more aggressive version of the Treasury regulation is working its way through the Senate and has begun to find some support.
- I don't have much to say about Dick Cheney's true-to-form interview with Politico, but Spencer Ackerman will gladly take you through the fear-mongering demagoguery and brazen lies.
- I wouldn't recommend Mitt Romney for HHS secretary, but at least he has some relevant experience. Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, merely has a misplaced reputation for being an solutions and ideas man. Meanwhile, NOW endorses Debbie Stabenow for the position and Howard Dean draws a Facebook group.
- Hilda Solis, Barack Obama's pick for secretary of labor, still hasn't been confirmed by the Senate, and the delay is such that an acting secretary had to be named. Think Progress makes the case that Solis is being deliberately buried by conservatives who, as we all know, only have the warmest of feelings towards organized labor.
- Remainders: Laura Rozen details the unofficial U.S.-Iran talks initiated by WMD nonproliferation coordinator Gary Samone, the House votes to delay the digital television switchover, Dave Weigel has a must-read on Amity Shales' mugging of the economic history of the Great Depression, President Obama plans a State of the Union-esque Congressional address for February 24, and the authors of the economic stimulus package come to its defense.
--Mori Dinauer
