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- It's not news that the business community really, really, really, wants EFCA to fail. Still, the revelation that Citibank deliberately lowered Walmart's rating on the presumption that EFCA would pass in Congress and hosted a conference call with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to organize opposition to the legislation is pretty brazen. Citibank, which has already received $50 billion in bailout money, claims that EFCA will "inhibit flexibility" and "hamper companies from competing effectively." Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO has promised Arlen Specter (R-PA) big support in 2010 if he votes for EFCA, and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has indicated she is open to negotiation on the bill, although she wouldn't vote for it "as it is drafted now."
- Poor Michael Steele just can't catch a break. After telling GQ that he feels abortion is an individual choice, he's had to suffer the wrath of the pro-life crowd, including Mike Huckabee and the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins. I found Ken Blackwell's assertion that Steele needs to "re-read the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and the 2008 GOP Platform" amusing, though. Are these three documents supposed to be equivalent in some way? I'm sure they are, as far as the GOP is concerned. See also Marc Ambinder on Steele's behind-the-scenes work to reinvent the RNC.
- Even while congressional Democratic leaders are weighing using the budget reconciliation rules to pass cap-and-trade legislation to get around one increasingly annoying Senate tradition, Elana Schor unsuccessfully attempts to figure out who's behind another -- the anonymous holds on John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco.
- I think it's safe to say that Judd Gregg's brief consideration for Commerce secretary was based purely on an attempt to grab his Senate seat for Democrats rather than his econ credentials, as his latest comments on Barack Obama's budget make clear: "In other words, the president's proposal is a massive and breathtaking document, and it should not be called a budget. Rather, it should be called a blueprint for the France-ification of America, a notebook for nationalization, or a memo for massive debt creation." These days, France might as well take the place of Hitler and the Nazis as the subject of Godwin's Law, and the people who invoke the Horrors of The Continent obviously aren't thinking through their analogy very deeply. Jodie Allen and Richard Auxier have more on the socialization -- A.K.A., the "Frenchification" -- of America.
- Barack Obama and Timothy Geithner might be receiving low grades from economists, but at least they're in the game, unlike congressional Republicans, who are ready to dazzle us with a stimulus package that is not only more effective, but also costs absolutely nothing! Apparently, while ladling praise on their own ingeniousness, they forgot to mention any specifics about how their plan is supposed to stimulate the economy if it doesn't actually use money.
- Of course, Republican pony plans aren't going to damage anyone's lives (you intelligence is another matter), which is why SC Gov. Mark Sanford wants to make sure the stimulus money his state receives won't go anywhere near the 7,500 teachers who will lose their jobs without state intervention. Sensing the spotlight and dreaming of playing in the big leagues of presidential politics down the road, Sanford wisely quipped of the money, "What you're doing is buying into the notion that if we just print some more money that we don't have and send it to different states, we'll create jobs. If that's the case, why isn't Zimbabwe a rich place?" The jury's still out on whether Sanford is a bigot or just not that bright.
- Remainders: The Senate confirms two more for the Justice department; Ari Fleischer implies Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11; Meghan McCain embarrasses herself on national television; Rick Santorum loves talking points from the 2008 campaign; and Chuck Norris shares his thoughts on his future in politics and the virtues of state secession.
--Mori Dinauer
