As I mentioned last evening, we were trying to get more clarity about what power Elizabeth Warren would be able to wield in her new, yet-to-be-announced advisory position at Treasury. That has not been easy to do. The White House isn’t talking, and three of senators most involved in the passage of financial regulatory reform told us this morning that they have no idea what position Warren is reportedly being given or what it entails. Hill aides are also unclear whether the position that’s been described is intended to run the new consumer protection bureau or just help set it up, as the reports suggest. If this was a trial balloon, I’m not sure it was airworthy enough even to get off the ground.

Fox News and host Chris Wallace have filed suit against Robin Carnahan’s Missouri Senate campaign, alleging that the use of Fox footage in a Carnahan ad targeting her Republican opponent, Rep. Roy Blunt, violated the network’s copyright and misappropriated Wallace’s likeness.

Tea party primary wins are driving the Republican Party further to the right, away from the mainstream of America, and elevating candidates who are unelectable. Do Dems have the GOP right where they want it? Or is this, as The Daily Show suggests, the precise moment at which Democrats find a million ways to screw it all up? Watch.

The Cook Political Report moves the Connecticut Senate race between Richard Blumenthal (D) and Linda McMahon (R) from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”

So Rush Limbaugh, a bear and a taxidermist walk into a bar … or something like that.

I don’t recall a long-shot like Christine O’Donnell arriving on the national stage so unknown but with such a long record of public statements on such a variety of issues. This morning we put together a list of her top 10 quotes, and it’s already outdated. Since then we’ve found this clip of O’Donnell on CSPAN in 1996 claiming not nearly enough attention was being paid to the “murder” of Vince Foster. Read More

The Vice President will campaign for the new Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons back home in Delaware tomorrow, TPM has learned.

Nancy Pelosi tells reporters the Obama middle class tax cuts will happen in this Congress. Which, remember, doesn’t necessarily mean before the election; it means before the new Congress is sworn in in January. When asked whether the upper income cuts might get extended to … she punted.

In other news, a group of 31 Democrats in the House have informed Nancy Pelosi that they want all the 2001 tax cuts extended, not just the ones on incomes under $250,000 per year.

But here’s the thing. I think this is a case where it’s really helpful to be controlling the Speaker’s gavel. Extending the tax cuts for incomes under $250,000 doesn’t rule out extending them later for those over that threshold. There’s obviously a lot of rhetorical gobbledygook in this debate and chances to spin this a million different ways. But voting on an extension for incomes under $250k doesn’t do anything to incomes higher. That’s just a fact. It leaves everything in place.

Republicans can say that’s ‘raising taxes’. But the vote isn’t. It doesn’t do anything one way or another. And Democrats can simply say, ‘Let’s do these now. And the election will determine what happens with the rest.’ That’s not just good politics for the Dems, it’s good civics too. Elections should be about something. And both parties seem intent on fighting the election on the basis of this division. So why not let them? If Republicans win big, they can do it in January. And the Dems who want all the cuts extended can tell voters they’re going to vote for it after the election.

The question is: are they really going to vote against extending the tax cuts for 98% people pre-election? Because it doesn’t include the other 2%. I doubt it.

Late Update: TPM Reader CL points out that I seem to have forgotten the point I myself made only yesterday: that 100% of people who pay income taxes get a cut under the Obama Plan. What Republicans want is even more cuts for people who make over $250k a year. But they get cuts under the Obama Plan just like everyone else.

Mitch McConnell revises and extends his remarks on who’s been hit the hardest in the recession.