- Harry Reid will appoint Max Baucus, the Senate’s top tax-writer, campaign chief Patty Murray and shadow secretary of state John Kerry to the supercommittee tasked with finding more than $1 trillion in savings by year’s end.
- The debt debate seems to have damaged the Republican brand: Democrats are at an even 47-47 in a CNN poll, but the GOP’s approval rating is a mere 33-59, more unpopular than they were during the Clinton impeachment.
- Throw-the-bums-out sentiment is at a high, but it’s still the other guy’s bums. A majority say their own representative deserves re-election.
- Republicans mostly held the line against Democratic recall efforts in Wisconsin.
- Romney sidles into Iowa.
- Ames is Pawlenty’s big test.
- Jeb Bush and former Fed governor Kevin Warsh argue the economy needs a big picture strategy for growth (never thought of that!) that includes tax reform, targeted deregulation and an innovated education system. I’m not sure how they think this is all that different than what Obama is calling for.
- S&P doesn’t want to have to tell anyone when it makes $2 trillion errors.
- And a brief photographic history of the ending congressional page program, which looks like it got progressively less fun over time.