THURSDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Ugh: “The U.N. suspended aid shipments in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and the Red Cross restricted its convoys after their trucks came under Israeli fire. The threat of a wider conflict arose when militants in Lebanon fired two rockets into northern Israel.”
* Muqtada al-Sadr wants “revenge operations” against U.S. forces in Iraq as punishment for U.S. support for Israel.
* This may be an encouraging development: “Senate leaders won the support of Citigroup, one of the nation’s largest banks, for legislation allowing bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of troubled mortgages.”
* Senate Democrats aren’t thrilled with Obama’s tax-cut plan.
* Tom Daschle’s confirmation hearings seem to be off to a good start.
* Tim Kaine was officially introduced as the next chairman of the DNC this afternoon. (Obama, in case you’re curious, said a number of nice things about Howard Dean at the event.)
* Congress officially tallied the votes from the Electoral College today, making Obama the president-elect.
* Former CIA official John Brennan will be the next White House director of counterterrorism.
* Cass Sunstein, a long-time legal scholar and Obama confidant, will head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
* Cool new subcommittee for Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass).
* Bush gave a speech on education policy today. No one cared.
* SEIU president Andy Stern makes an excellent point about Congress working quickly when it wants to.
* Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) thinks Eric Holder will be confirmed. So do I.
* Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) is picking a fight with Obama over his likely Surgeon General nominee. Since the confirmation is up to the Senate, Conyers may have limited influence on this. (Unfortunately, Conyers’ letter to his House colleagues spells Gupta’s name wrong, misspelled the “Nobel” prize, gets the address of Conyers’ website wrong, and mistakenly claims that Paul Krugman won a Nobel Peace Prize. Oops.)
* Former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) finally gave up his appeals today.
* Monsters.
* And I’m very glad Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, eight years later, will finally get a chance to wear that dress.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
