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.
Bill O’Reilly rips Al Gore’s “sleazy” deal with “anti-American network.”
Biden: “There’s a lot to smile about today,” as he caressed the face of one of the attendees.
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.
The gang’s back together … sort of. Also, the days when presidents didn’t hang with pro wrestling divas are over.
Joe Biden’s friskiest moments at yesterday’s swearing in ceremonies.
Basically good-if-not great news throughout today’s payroll report from the Department of Labor. My basic breakdown is here. But I also want to emphasize that it, and basically all recent economic data, underscores the folly of a new debt limit fight.
Obviously I’m not saying that playing games with the debt ceiling would be legitimate way for Republicans to extract political concessions if the economy weren’t recovering, or if it were recovering more slowly. But at least they’d have a pretense to argue that the country required immediate policy changes to address an existing economic crisis. Read More