WEDNESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The credit card bill is on its way to the president’s desk.
* As expected, the Senate voted to deny funding, for now, to shut down Gitmo. The final vote was 90 to 6.
* Bloodshed in Baghdad: “A car bomb exploded Wednesday near several restaurants in a Shiite neighborhood of northwest Baghdad, killing 41 people and injuring more than 70, police and hospital officials said.”
* Ahmadinejad announced this morning that “Iran had test-fired an upgraded surface-to-surface missile with a range of about 1,200 miles, according to the IRNA news agency.”
* Nice to see Arlen Specter acknowledge publicly today, “The CIA has a very bad record when it comes to — I was about to say candid, that’s too mild — to honesty.”
* In a disappointing setback, marriage equality fell short in the New Hampshire state House today.
* Are Afghan security forces helping arm Afghan insurgents? It sure looks like it.
* On a related note, international aid to Afghanistan is made more difficult by systemic corruption.
* The creation of a Financial Markets Commission isn’t getting the attention it deserves.
* Nice to see the estimable Ilan Goldenberg get a key job in the Obama administration.
* California’s finances are a complete mess.
* Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) starts to play some hardball on an EFCA compromise.
* Gingrich said last night, “No one has suggested — no one, even the most bitter partisan, has suggested — that enhanced interrogation should be used on Nancy Pelosi.” That’s completely untrue.
* No one can take a stand for “traditional marriage” like Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R).
* I like the idea of “jerrytaylor” becoming a verb.
* Sign of the times: Lawrence Roberts, investigations editor at the Washington Post, is headed for the Huffington Post.
* Impressive: “America’s poor donate more, in percentage terms, than higher-income groups do, surveys of charitable giving show.”
* The Heritage Foundation fact-checked a Media Matters fact-check. In response, Media Matters fact-checked the Heritage fact-check.
* And finally, Bill O’Reilly told viewers last night, “I consider myself a middle-class guy.” Bill O’Reilly makes about $10 million a year.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
