As Adam noted last night, despite House passage of Financial Regulatory reform, the bill still seems in peril in the Senate with five of the six holdouts still seemingly wavering. But, frankly, going into a recess why would you declare your vote? If you were, say Scott Brown, would you a) declare that you’re going to buck your party and …
Tea Party
Morning Must Reads: On the Fence
Reuters/Jim Young
–Russ Feingold is a “no” on financial reform. Maria Cantwell is still on the fence; her office tells me she is still examining the final language. Susan Collins has joined Scott Brown in protesting the $18 billion financial sector tax tacked on in the 11th hour to pay for implementation. Snowe’s in a similar …
Nevada’s Sharron Angle
A short piece from me in this week’s dead tree edition about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s GOP opponent.
Morning Must Reads: Primetime
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Obama departs on a whirlwind tour of the Gulf Coast today with stops in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida before delivering his first Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday night. Reportedly included in the speech: a case for comprehensive energy and climate legislation, including some …
Palin’s Good Day
Yesterday’s losers? Unions and progressive groups. The Nevada Republican Party. Orly Taitz.
Yesterday’s winners? Bill Clinton. And Sarah Palin.
Why Palin, you may ask? We answer that question in this week’s dead tree edition hitting stands tomorrow.
Morning Must Reads: Nature of the Contest
Danny Johnston/Associated Press
–Jay has a nice break down of Tuesday’s results.
–A White House official gets a bit overexcited at Lincoln’s win and sticks a finger in labor’s eye.
—Marc Ambinder writes Arkansas’s lessons lie in the nature of the contest, not the outcome.
–Bill Clinton will be a much sought after …
Welcome Back, Pragmatism
People are unhappy. They’ve been unhappy for a while: through Enron and the .com bubble bursting, 9/11, two wars, Katrina. They thought Barack Obama would bring change but few have felt the changes he’s wrought: who can imagine how bad the economy could have gotten sans stimulus? It feels bad enough as it is. Then came the Gulf oil …
Morning Must Reads: “Whose Ass to Kick”
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–It’s Super Duper Primary Tuesday with contests in 12 states coast to coast including run-offs in Arkansas and Georgia.
— A Washington Post/ABC News poll finds only 29% of Americans plan to support their representative in November. Maybe that’s why turnout is expected to be low today …
Morning Must Reads: On Deck
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–BP’s containment cap made some progress over the weekend.
–The administration’s not slapping any backs quite yet. They expect clean-up efforts to last at least through the fall. Thad Allen is on deck for today’s White House press briefing.
—Underestimating risk might be the theme …
Super (Primary) Tuesday
Tomorrow is Super Primary Tuesday with 10 states holding primary contests for Congress and governor’s mansions. Also, in Arkansas Blanche Lincoln is fighting for her Senate seat in a crucial run off with Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Here’s a primer from TIME’s Katy Steinmetz and me about the top races to look for.
Morning Must Reads: Tryin’ to Find Some Sun
Oil:
-Top Kill is dead and the Administration’s now thinking about sicking the lawyers on BP. BP shares are down 15% in London trading. This morning President Obama meets with BP Oil Spill Commission Co-Chairs, former Florida senator Bob Graham and former EPA administrator William K. Reilly.
-Other oil spill news: MMS …
House GOP Leaders Are Listening… Now
House GOP leaders today unveiled a listening tour called America Speaks Out that will start online and be expanded to a bunch of events across the country. “I saw this as an extension of our solutions group,” Minority Leader John Boehner said at the project’s unveiling at the Newseum in Washington. The same group, Boehner added, …
Following in Dede Scozzafava’s Footsteps? 7 House GOP Primaries to Watch
Sure, all the talk this weekend was about the murder-suicide between Democrats Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa in Hawaii that handed Republican State Assemblyman Charles Djou a victory in a special election for Hawaii’s First Congressional District – President Obama’s childhood home. But Dems are betting that base anger on the other …