Is this the moment in pro wrestling when the retired hero-wrestler suddenly makes a surprise appearance in the arena, strips down to his wrestling tights, and leaps into the ring to save the day?

Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT), who dropped out after losing at the GOP state convention to WWE magnate Linda McMahon, is now flirting with getting back in the Republican primary race.

Wall Street reform is not even officially enacted yet (the Senate will pass it in the next hour here), but already Brian Beutler has Republican leaders on the record saying they will go into the fall elections pledging to repeal financial reform.

Former Democratic fund-raising bigwig Hassan Nemazee sentenced to 12 years for running a Ponzi scheme.

The inspector general of the Social Security Administration is investigating that anonymously circulated list in Utah of alleged illegal immigrants, TPMmuckraker has learned. To be clear, the IG isn’t checking up on whether those on the list are here illegally but whether whoever created the list violated federal law by releasing private information. The U.S. attorney’s office in Utah tells us it is “working closely” with the federal agencies looking into the matter.

One of our occasional slideshows on the behind the scenes schmoozing in DC:

Eric Kleefeld, who knows Minnesota election law better than just about any non-lawyer (and better than many lawyers), does the definitive takedown on this new right-wing meme that felons voting illegally put Al Franken over the top in 2008’s already-litigated election.

Charlie Cook shifts the Louisiana Senate race from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican.”

OK, maybe that’s overstating it. But the Senate has given final legislative passage to the financial reform bill. The vote was 60-39. It now goes to President Obama for his signature, expected early next week.

Late Update: Harry Reid just announced that Obama will sign the bill today. Stay tuned …

Later Update: Reid now saying next week after all.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is bitterly denying that he is a birther or even birther-curious and says his remarks over the weekend were taken out of context by the “liberal thought police.”

The video of Vitter’s original remarks pretty much speaks for itself: “I support conservative legal organizations and others who would bring that to court. I think that is the valid and most possibly effective grounds to do it.

We take a look at the delicate balancing act that Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has to pull off to win re-election and the five issues where his vote matters most.