Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Europe hasn’t been saved: “Sobriety displaced euphoria in Europe on Friday as new developments signaled that the debt crisis was far from over, deflating a market rally that had followed a show of resolve by European leaders. Italy was obliged to pay the highest rate in more than a decade to sell a new bond issue, a sign that investors remained wary of the country’s political paralysis and a debt load equal to 120 percent of yearly economic output.”
* BOA backpedals: “Bank of America Corp, after receiving heavy public criticism for a planned $5 per-month debit card fee, is likely to give customers more ways to avoid the fee, a person familiar with the bank’s plans said Friday.”
* The BOA blowback was noticed throughout the industry: “A month after Bank of America got pummeled by consumers and politicians for introducing plans for new debit-card fees, most other big U.S. banks are steering clear of imposing similar charges.”
* House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) thinks energy subsidies are wrong — unless he can get a $2 billion loan guarantee for a nuclear plant in his home state.
* If I had to pick the Paul Ryan’s worst quality, I’d probably go with the frequency with which he says things that aren’t true.
* Now, it’s official: the Justice Department did not pay $16 for muffins. Let us never speak of it again.
* Republicans are accusing the Affordable Care Act of including a “marriage penalty.” Jonathan Cohn explains why they really don’t want to go down that road.
* Breitbart picks up $10 million in equity funding from undisclosed investors. That’ll finance all kinds of nonsense.
* Congrats to Eli Lake on his new Daily Beast gig.
* And there’s been a flurry of Senate activity this week on, of all thing, NCAA conference membership. As the dust settles, it looks like the final score is Joe Manchin 1, Mitch McConnell 0.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
