Okay, it ain’t Bob Ney winning 30 grand on a couple hands of poker. But fellow Ohioan John Boehner still managed a $2,700 pay day.

TPM Reader DO checks in …

Josh —

You raise an interesting question. Perhaps it would be instructive to look at what the DSCC is doing with respect to Bernie Sanders, who will caucus with the Democrats if elected, but may not technically be the Democratic
Party nominee (I believe he has always sought office as an independent). If the DSCC can provide support to someone who hasn’t been nominated by the Democratic Party, then why shouldn’t they be able to remain neutral in a contest between between two candidates, either of whom will caucus with the Democrats if elected.

David in New York

Interesting point. Is the DSCC supporting Bernie Sanders in any way? I’m really not sure. If they can, I would hope they would be. There’s no Democrat running as far as I know. And presumably he’d caucus with the Dems in the Senate as he has with the Dems in the House.

Late Update: About half the emails I’ve gotten in response to this post have construed it to mean that the fact that the DSCC might be supporting Bernie Sanders somehow settles it that Schumer can also support a party-defecting Lieberman. Don’t overread.

Denial not only river in Egypt but also House Republicans’ Middle East policy.

Ahh, the new doctrine of preemption. Biden on Net Neutrality …

Others on the committee questioned the need for “preemptive” action against a problem they’re not convinced exists. If the discrimination that Net neutrality advocates fear does occur, such a public outcry will develop that “the chairman will be required to hold this meeting in this largest room in the Capitol, and there will be lines wandering all the way down to the White House,” said Delaware Democrat Joseph Biden.

And from profiles in courage department of the same article …

[Arlen] Specter, for one, indicated that he would prefer looking at the issue on a “case-by-case” basis rather than issuing a “general rule” about what network operators can and cannot do–an approach favored by Internet companies. He said it may be more productive to negotiate less formal “standards” for network access with the players involved because writing new laws is “extraordinarily difficult, candidly, when you have the giants on both sides of these issues.”

Just a lil’ ole’ senator.

Truly, isn’t this the worst of all worlds from any sort of reasonable efficient markets and predictability perspective? Having Congress come in on a “case-by-case” basis to judge the various ways in which the telcoms might choose to block, degrade or extract fees for various kinds of online content?

Okay, this may resolve the Sanders issue.

According to The Hotline, despite the fact that Bernie Sanders runs as an independent, he was endorsed by the Vermont Democratic party. That presumably settles the matter of the DSCC’s public support for him.

Ever get lucky at a highway rest stop? Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) did last August, winning $2,700 at a roadside slot machine. This and more news of the day in today’s Daily Muck.

Missouri Guv’s office accuses prominent blogger of having “Timothy McVeigh-like fantasies” and has him tossed from a bill signing.

That’s a pretty rockin’ rest stop.

Paul Kiel did a little checking on that highway ‘rest stop’ where Majority Leader John Boehner hit the jackpost on that slot machine. Here are the details.

Some interesting news coming out the Shirlington Limo hearing on Capitol Hill. Update momentarily.

Update: Grand jury’s investigating and Duke Cunningham’s back in the mix.

Late Update: Did Shirlington have an inside line on the DHS contract? More details from the hearing.

From the briefing today …

QUESTION: Tony, American deaths in Iraq have reached 2,500. Is there any response or reaction from the President on that?

SNOW: It’s a number. And every time there’s one of these 500 benchmarks, people want something.

The president would like the war to be over now. Everybody would like the war to be over now. And the one thing that we saw in Iraq this week is further testimony to the quality of the men and the women who are doing that, and the dedication and determination to try to ensure that the people of Iraq really do live in a free, effective democracy of their own creation and design.

Any president who goes through a time of war feels very deeply the responsibility for sending men and women into harm’s way and feels very deeply the pain that the families feel. And this president is no different.

You’ve seen it many times. You saw it. You saw it when he was in that ballroom. You had this crowd of service men and women who were cheering loudly for the president, and he got choked up.

So it’s always a sad benchmark.