THURSDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Vote-counting in Iraq is a bit of a mess.
* President Obama signs a jobs bill into law, hopefully the first in a series.
* On a related note, the number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance fell last week, but it’s still too high.
* A vote on a House resolution to prevent a vote on a self-executing rule was defeated.
* When an insurance company targets HIV patients to drop their health coverage, it tells you quite a bit about the industry.
* South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) will apparently be allowed to keep his job, but he’ll pay $74,000 in ethics fines.
* Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) didn’t just endorse the Democratic health care reform package, he’s begun putting real effort into convincing other Dems to support it, too. Good for him.
* Seems like a key concession right now: “Student Lender Not Actually Sure if Direct Lending Will Cut Jobs.”
* I really do like these Organizing for America videos; they’re well done.
* Speaking of great videos, Amanda Terkel has the gem of the day, comparing Fox News’ Bret Baier’s interview with President Obama to his interview with then-President Bush. Fantastic clip.
* Change I can believe in: “Quietly, free of headlines and fanfare, the Obama White House is toning down the bellicose ‘war on drugs’ position that’s defined the country’s narcotics policy for the last 25 years.”
* Right-wing bloggers really should learn to use Google before accusing the president of making up earthquakes.
* And in the deranged wing of the Republican Party, the new complaint is that it’s morally wrong to ask Congress to vote on health care reform on a Sunday because, as Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), it’s “the Sabbath.” Glenn Beck called the legislative schedule “an affront to God.” Conservatives do pick strange things to complain about.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
