Apparently a 33-year-old man in Philadelphia has been arrested after the FBI viewed YouTube videos of him threatening to kill Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House Republican Whip. TalkingPointsMemo has the full text of the U.S. Attorney's press release and affidavit:

On March 26, 2010, the FBI, San F… Read full post »

The Obama administration has announced a major revamp of its premier housing help act, HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program), which is itself part of TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). OMG, WTF? IDK!? Translation: What now?

This is a much… Read full post »

^{"Yes, Mr. President, just a few more changes."}

Updates appended below.

The health care bill is headed back to the House. Wait, what? I thought we were done with that. Oh, no. Apparently taking time out from introducing ridiculous measures, halting all committee work at 2 p.m., and fanning… Read full post »

Last week, Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced new legislation to reform current immigration policies, which President Obama has endorsed. They wrote about it in The Washington Post:

Our plan has fo… Read full post »

Health care is the big f'in deal today (and good on ya, Joe Biden), but there exists other news in the world. Two other big events happened last weekend, and they deserve a mention, too: the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and a huge march on Washington… Read full post »

The House passed two bills last night: the Senate health care bill and the fix to it, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act. The first passed 219-212; the second, 220-211. Hooray! Break out the champ-- what? Oh. There's still a little bit of work to be done. (Also it's… Read full post »

So, health care reform seems a little closer to passage now, thanks in part to the switch to yes by liberal Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (as ably reported by Heather Michon). Kucinich said today:

I know I have to make a decision, not on the bill as… Read full post »

Lady Gaga's latest music video, "Telephone," premiered last week, and as it quickly became the hottest thing since (and including) sliced bread, I suppose it's not much surprise that the video and commentary on it showed up everywhere. The crowning a… Read full post »

I have to admit, I'm captivated by the Rielle Hunter/John Edwards story. I have been for a while. I know it's wrong. I know it makes me some kind of leech or lecher or... loser? Something starting with an L. I just can't stop looking, and/… Read full post »

During his radio address Saturday, President Obama announced that his education reform blueprint will be sent to Congress today, with high hopes that it will be passed sometime in August. This reform package would include a number of changes and fixes to the current No Child Left Behind law… Read full post »

It's Friday, and I feel like talking about Tim Geithner.

In lieu of that, though, I'm happy to discuss the Fed for a moment. The New York Times is reporting that San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen (that's her to the right) has been chosen as the new Fed vice-chair.… Read full post »

Well, just when you think Democrats are a risk-averse bunch of, ah, goldfish, they do something I admire:

The chairmen of the Senate and House education committees said on Thursday that they would fight to attach President Obama’s proposed overhaul of student lending programs to the budget rec… Read full post »

While half the country is apparently out Googling Asperger's Syndrome (thanks to last night's new episode of "Parenthood," I guess), the National Governors Association has released a plan to help not just kids on TV, but all U.S. kids: Common Core Standards fo/… Read full post »

So say you have a house. Say you bought the house for $200,000 at the peak of the market. Let's say you put $20,000 down when you bought the house and took out a loan for $180,000. Now, the market having, shall we say,… Read full post »

Sunday marked new elections in Iraq, with voters going to the polls (past the now-standard backdrop of bombings) to mark complicated ballots that will, eventually, elect members of parliament whothat will be in power after the U.S. is scheduled… Read full post »

The Washington Post reports today that President Obama may be c/… Read full post »

If you're the Governor of New York, and the World Series is being played in New York, and it's going to star the New York Yankees -- well, you have to go, right? You might think you're even entitled to go. They should be inviting you. They should be handing you… Read full post »

In the last few days, MoveOn.Org, the AFL-CIO, and other progressive causes have committed at least 4 million dollars to Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, the man who is challenging Senator Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 Democratic Primary for/…

Read full post »

Update: Representative Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., is taking a leave of absence from his chairmanship on the Ways and Means Committee after a House ethics panel found that he violated standing rules in accepting reimbursement for two trips. The trips, to two separate conferences on the islands… Read full post »

Last night, The New York Times broke a story saying Gov. David Paterson apparently ordered two aides to call the woman who accused Paterson's aide, David Johnson, of assaulting her. Paterson asked his press secretary to call Johnson's accuser shortly before she was due in court to complete he… Read full post »

Harold Ford is dropping out of the Democratic primary in New York (if he was even officially in). Ford wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times announcing why he's quitting. I'll save you the pain of reading his explanation and instead sum it up:

• I was thinking
… Read full post »

Senator Lamar Alexander, superheroic protector of minority rights, went on ABC's "This Week" (h/t Think Progress) to talk for 8 minutes about the horror, the horror, of healthcare legislation being passed through budget reconciliation:

There’s never been anything of this size and magnitude and… Read full post »

^{Gov. Paterson and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch in October.}

Governor David Paterson is going to drop out of the New York race:

And many had said publicly this week that Mr. Paterson’s chances had been damaged, perhaps irreparably, by the disclosures that the governor himself had stepped in… Read full post »

Earlier this week, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility released a report saying, in essence, that John Yoo and Jay Bybee had violated ethical and professional standards and that reports of their conduct should be referred to the/… Read full post »

The F.C.C. today released results from a comprehensive survey today that show roughly a third of Americans -- some 93 million people -- do not currently have broadband access to the Internet at home. The study found three major reasons that people don't have broadband Internet access at home: cost, d… Read full post »