Today’s edition of quick hits:
* That’s a 1,000-point swing over 24 hours: “At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 429.92 points, or nearly 4 percent, at 11,239.77. Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 53.07 points, or 4.74 percent, at 1,172.53, the largest point gain in a day since March 2009, and the Nasdaq was up 5.29 percent, or 124.83 points, at 2,482.52.”
* Investors don’t seem to give a damn about the S&P downgrade.
* The White House this morning canceled all public events for the day. Now we know why: “President Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday to pay his respects to the 30 American servicemen killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan over the weekend.” The president was joined by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen, Ray Mabus, the secretary of the Navy.
* On a related note, the president spent about 70 minutes meeting informally with approximately 250 family members and fellow servicemen and women after the caskets were brought off the plane.
* London: “Prime Minister David Cameron pledged Tuesday to flood the streets of London with 10,000 extra police officers, and said that Parliament would be recalled in emergency session, after rioting and looting spread across and beyond London for a third night in what the police called the worst unrest in memory.”
* This news will get buried, but it’s important: “President Obama today will announce new fuel efficiency standards that will save American businesses that operate and own commercial vehicles approximately $50 billion in fuel costs over the life of the program. These work trucks, buses, and other medium- and heavy duty vehicles will be required to meet fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emission standards for the first time ever beginning in 2014.”
* National Review, a once-proud publication, ran an item today arguing President Obama might secretly support the London riots based on a bizarre interpretation of a 1992 press release found in an ACORN archive. How very sad.
* If we put aside congressional circumstances and Republican radicalism entirely, Michael Hiltzik’s case for additional stimulus makes an enormous amount of sense.
* Education Management Corp. draws scrutiny: “The Department of Justice is suing one company of American for-profit colleges, arguing that the corporation violated the rules of federal financial aid.”
* This guy really does need help: “In an interview on Frank Gaffney’s radio program last week, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) criticized defense cuts included in the recent bipartisan budget deal and suggested lawmakers in Washington were accessories to Osama bin Laden’s goal of bankrupting the country.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
