Today’s edition of quick hits:
* President Obama has no interest in a short-term extension on the debt ceiling, and will host congressional leaders for a White House negotiating session on Thursday. Obama also appeared to reset the clock on the timeline: he now wants a deal within “two weeks.”
* Pakistan: “Obama administration officials believe that Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ordered the killing of a Pakistani journalist who had written scathing reports about the infiltration of militants in the country’s military, according to American officials.”
* An Exxon Mobil pipeline burst Friday in Montana, spreading 42,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River. (thanks to A.P.)
* Keep an eye on this one: “The Obama administration and the auto industry are locked in negotiations over new vehicle mileage and emissions standards that will have a profound effect on the cars Americans drive and the health of the auto industry over the next decade and beyond.”
* A break in Kansas: “A federal judge temporarily blocked Kansas from enforcing new abortion regulations Friday that would have prevented two of the state’s three abortion providers from continuing to terminate pregnancies. U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia’s injunction will remain in effect until a trial is held in a lawsuit challenging the Kansas rules.”
* House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) sure sounds defensive (and incoherent), doesn’t he? “Here’s the deal on our Medicare plan: ObamaCare ends Medicare as we know it,” he said today.
* Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, premiums for Americans with pre-existing conditions are shrinking.
* Gilded Age Watch: “It turns out that the good times are even better than we thought for American chief executives. A preliminary examination of executive pay in 2010, based on data available as of April 1, found that the paychecks for top American executives were growing again, after shrinking during the 2008-9 recession.”
* A must-read piece from Michael Hiltzik on how BMW layoffs in California “exemplify the evisceration of the middle class.”
* The American Values Network goes after Ayn Rand’s followers. Andy Sabl explains why the AVN’s message probably isn’t the right one.
* Dean Baker makes George Will look awfully foolish. (thanks to N.B. for the tip)
* Daniel Luzer asks whether “fancy” colleges are worth the added expense.
* Fox News’ Twitter account was apparently hacked yesterday, leading to a series of disturbing messages about assassinating President Obama. The Secret Service is investigating.
* And on a related note, Murdoch-owned media outlets are deeply irresponsible in the United States, but I can hardly believe what his outlets are willing to do in the U.K.: “The voice mailbox of a British schoolgirl who went missing in 2002 and whose murdered body was discovered six months later was repeatedly hacked by the News of the World tabloid at a time when no one knew what had happened to her, a lawyer for her family said Monday.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
