MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* New offensive launched by the Pakistani military Saturday in the insurgent haven of South Waziristan.
* President Hamid Karzai is headed for a runoff now that a panel of United Nations-appointed experts has stripped him of nearly a million votes.
* Multi-party talks with Iran get underway. Time has an interesting behind-the-scenes report on the pre-talk positioning.
* The administration has a new policy towards Sudan, which was fleshed out today.
* That’s quite a hoax on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
* The stimulus saved/created a whole lot of jobs in education.
* The White House isn’t happy about big bonuses on Wall Street.
* On a related note, it was nice to see Wall Street suffer a setback on the Hill. That doesn’t happen often.
* House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) just loves the derivatives industry. What a joke.
* Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is eyeing reconciliation for student-loan reform.
* White House launches the GreenGov Challenge.
* Remember all of those Republican lawmakers who hated the recovery bill but love to deliver big checks back to their district? Add Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) to the list.
* There are a few problems with Superfreakonomics and it’s analysis of global warming.
* The Washington Post‘s “salon” problem continues.
* Voters in Maine and Washington will vote on legal recognition for same-sex relationships, and the White House has issued a statement taking the correct position on both.
* A loophole in the consumer financial protection agency?
* Louisiana Gov. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) thinks Keith Bardwell should resign. Good call. But what about Sen. David Vitter (R)?
* Republican outreach to Jewish voters takes another step backwards.
* I’m beginning to think Stephen Hayes’ reporting isn’t especially reliable.
* Ziegler vs. Keene on Palin.
* New, bipartisan efforts on the Hill for a college-football playoff.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
