WEDNESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The Treasury Department is starting to outline the “stress test” mechanism.
* Third time’s the charm: President Obama nominated former Washington State Gov. Gary Locke as the new head of the Commerce Department. “Now, I’m sure it’s not lost on anyone that we’ve tried this a couple of times, but I’m a big believer in keeping at something until you get it right,” Obama said today.
* Ben Bernanke offered his definition of “nationalization.”
* Bipartisanship! The House passed its $410 billion omnibus spending package today, 245 to 178. Sixteen Republicans voted with the majority.
* DHS still wants to have a system in which all cargo entering the U.S. is screened, but it won’t meet the deadline.
* Will Obama face any heat from the left on its Iraq withdrawal timeline? Not really.
* What did Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) really say about the president’s birth certificate?
* Americans invented all kinds of cool stuff, but Obama was wrong to credit us with inventing the automobile and solar energy.
* Harry Reid intends to tackle healthcare this summer. Good.
* Chris Bowers wants to see David Sirota get the 10 p.m. slot on MSNBC; Ezra Klein wants to see Chris Hayes get the gig. Those both sound like good chioces, but in the meantime, the network still hasn’t called me about my audition.
* Jindal’s getting some good advice on how to recover from last night.
* On a related note, the timing on Michael Gerson’s latest column could have been much better.
* I can’t imagine what the mayor of Los Alamitos was thinking.
* The San Francisco Chroncile is in big trouble.
* And finally, Drudge sure does play funny games with headlines.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
