Barney Frank said this morning that he’s asked Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to appoint him to John Kerry’s empty Senate seat — but only as a placeholder.
Biden: “There’s a lot to smile about today,” as he caressed the face of one of the attendees.
Bill O’Reilly rips Al Gore’s “sleazy” deal with “anti-American network.”
From the the day the deal actually went down, TPM Reader MM on Obama’s need to compromise …
I think another way to think about that “wanting to get a deal done” by Obama is this: he is strongly inclined to send the message that he is siding with people. If you listen to what the man on the street is saying, like the out of work steelworker who was on “Marketplace” tonight, it’s “Put aside your differences and get a deal done”. That’s the general ask from the populace, they are tired of a dysfunctional government, but it’s typically low-attention-span on the details and I think that’s less-so right now.
One of the things we’re going to focus on this year in our IdeaLab section is just who controls the platforms and software ecosystems that shape how technology is affecting our lives. One thing I’m particularly curious about is computer mapping and how Google is using its digital mapping dominance to reach into whole industries you might not even think of them touching.
One of them is cars. Read More
A great shot of a mom being sworn in to the U.S. Senate.
You gotta watch Joe Biden posing with senators and their families today on the first day of the new Congress.
Republicans have been burning up the printing presses the past few days to let all concerned parties know they really, really mean it when they say they won’t raise the debt limit — which is to say, will tank the economy — unless Democrats agree to huge federal spending cuts they don’t actually support.
That threat’s been clear for a while, obviously. But if you thought the debt limit farce couldn’t get any more farcical, here’s an added layer. Read More
Daniel Day-Lewis in the Lincoln Bedroom viewing the Gettysburg Address.