TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* If the seas get too rough, the containment cap would have to be removed altogether: “Tropical Storm Alex is churning through the Gulf of Mexico as it threatens to become the first storm of this region’s notorious hurricane season, forcing officials to delay efforts to double the amount of oil that can be siphoned from BP’s damaged well.”
* Day 2 of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings.
* Consumer confidence took a sharp and painful turn for the worse in June.
* Maybe now would be a good time to focus more on economic recovery than deficit reduction: “No matter where they look, investors are seeing economic trouble. Stocks and interest rates tumbled Tuesday after signs of slowing economies from China to the U.S. spooked traders who were already uneasy about a global recovery.”
* Gen. David Petraeus has another chat with the Senate Armed Services Committee, this time as part of his confirmation hearings for comamnd in Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, meanwhile, is retiring from the Armed Forces.
* They needed a two-thirds majority, and didn’t get it: “The House of Representatives failed Tuesday to pass a bill that would extend long-term unemployment benefits through the end of November.”
* Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman’s (D) controversial conviction will get a second look, thanks to a Supreme Court order.
* There’s a huge dispute underway between Daily Kos and Research 2000, with the blogging powerhouse accusing the pollster of fraud. Kos expects a lawsuit to be filed “within the next day or two.”
* President Obama will speak at the American University School of International Service in Washington on Thursday to emphasize the need for comprehensive immigration reform.
* Short of eliminating all filibusters, abolishing filibusters of conference reports seems like a no-brainer.
* Expanding the spectrum would bring some hope to frustrated cell phone users.
* Is the religious right still upset with Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.) over his proposed “truce” in the culture war? Um, yeah.
* Do state colleges and state prisons really compete for money? Well, sort of.
* And for all the recent hullabaloo about Journolist, it turns out there’s “a private RNC-related listserv” — and it has its leaks, too.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
