THURSDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Good to see: “Washington launched its biggest offensive yet against runaway Wall Street pay practices Thursday, taking aim at everyone from senior executives to high-flying traders of complex securities. Leading the charge was the White House, which outline a series of drastic pay cuts for top executives at the nation’s biggest bailed-out companies, including AIG, Citigroup and Bank of America.”
* In related news: “A day after the Obama administration clamped down on executive pay at companies that received federal bailouts, the Federal Reserve acted more broadly Thursday to curb pay packages that encouraged bankers and other executives to take the kinds of reckless risks that contributed to the housing bubble.”
* With a unanimous vote at the FCC, net neutrality takes another encouraging step.
* I hope the insurance industry wasn’t too attached to that anti-trust exemption.
* The public supports taking it away, too.
* So true: “The battle to pass financial regulatory reform is going to be like trench warfare: a grinding, bloody struggle that’s won a single subparagraph at a time against a relentless barrage of money, lawyers, and lunches at Tosca. And that’s the optimistic view.”
* Hmm: “Three dozen moderate Democrats are warning Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) that they must show that their health care bill will cut long-term costs or they will vote it down.”
* The politics surrounding the failure of the “doc fix” aren’t what they appear at first blush.
* There’s a very good reason the pharmaceutical industry has been smiling for months.
* White House economist Christina Romer thinks unemployment will be a problem for a very long time.
* I caught some flack on my post the other day about President Obama’s support for the public option, but Speaker Pelosi’s office seems to think I’m right.
* The Senate can be infuriating: “Nine former U.S. assistant secretaries of state have written to Senate leaders warning that U.S. relations with the Western hemisphere ‘are being damaged’ because of a dispute that has blocked the confirmation of two key diplomatic appointees to the region.”
* Fox News = professional wrestling.
* NPR’s Ken Rudin apologizes for Obama-Nixon comparison. Good for him.
* Ruth Marcus responded to related criticism, but didn’t walk back her odd comments.
* You’ll always remember your first furlough fest.
* Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) disagrees with Dick Cheney’s “dithering” criticism.
* The NYT‘s Ross Douthat opposes gay marriage, but he’s having trouble explaining why.
* Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) thinks Bob Dole’s position on health care will “increase a non-pro-freedom agenda.” First, that’s dumb. Second, isn’t the phrase she’s looking for there “anti-freedom”?
* The NYT‘s Andrew Revkin thinks Rush Limbaugh owes him an apology. I think he’s right.
* It’s awful to get fired. It’s really awful to learn you’ve been fired through a Google Alert issued by Fox News.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
