Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Congress returns to work this week with plenty of business still on the table before August break. Unemployment benefits have run out for 2 million Americans, a Supreme Court nominee awaits confirmation, and the timing of the Senate’s vote on financial reform remains unclear.
—Hale Stewart sees slow growth, not a double-dip recession (with pretty graphs.)
–David Axelrod (read: the White House) says there’s “not a great appetite” for more stimulus. Paul Krugman gets frustrated.
–Robert Gibbs is either lowering expectations for November or sounding the alarm.
—Dan Balz reports on the parties’ redistricting efforts and the incredible significance of state-level elections this year.
–As Joe noted, regardless of merit, a vote for TARP has become the real toxic asset.
–Paul Volcker discusses the final financial reform bill at length, gives it a B.
–Palin kickstarts a 2012 effort.
—Liz Sidoti writes Haley Barbour is poised to be either a heavyweight contender himself or Republican kingmaker. My money’s on the latter.
–Meg Whitman wooed political consultant Mike Murphy with a $1 million gift to his fledgling film production company.
–And amazing sentences from Charlie Crist: “We’re all in this together. God bless Jimmy Buffett.”
What did I miss?