Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Afghanistan: “At least 12 Americans were killed when a Taliban suicide car bomber attacked an armored shuttle bus in Kabul on Saturday, military officials said. The bombing was the single deadliest assault on Americans in the capital since the war began, military officials said, and follows brazen Taliban attacks on the American Embassy and NATO headquarters in the city last month.”
* The latest move in the “We Can’t Wait” campaign: “President Obama took unilateral action Monday to help stem the nation’s critical shortage of lifesaving drugs. Obama signed an executive order that gives federal regulators more power to track shortages, quickly approve replacement manufacturing sites and punish price gougers.”
* Seems like I see another one of these stories every other day: “A Republican lawmaker who has criticized the Department of Energy’s $529 million loan guarantee to an electric car company that is manufacturing vehicles overseas has championed U.S.-backed loans to a company headquartered in his home district that does business around the globe.”
* Unesco: “Palestine became the 195th full member of Unesco on Monday, as the United Nations organization defied a threatened cutoff of American funds under federal legislation from the 1990’s. The vote of Unesco’s full membership was 107 to 14, with 52 abstentions. The step will cost the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization one-quarter of its yearly budget — the 22 percent contributed by the United States (about $70 million) plus another 3 percent contributed by Israel.”
* House Republicans have mocked the White House for the lack of House Dems co-sponsoring the American Jobs Act, which GOP leaders don’t intend to bring to the floor. In response, 90 House Dems announced they’re co-sponsoring President Obama’s plan.
* Good call: “The Justice Department filed suit on Monday to block South Carolina’s immigration law, saying that the law interfered with the federal government’s supremacy on the issue of immigration.”
* The Washington Post published a truly awful front-page piece on Social Security over the weekend. Dean Baker and Paul Krugman take the time to highlight the reality that the Post overlooked.
* The right’s campaign to make First Lady Michelle Obama unpopular isn’t going well.
* Add Bill Gates’ name to the list of very rich Americans who want to see tax increases on very rich Americans.
* Happy Birthday, Danica May Camacho: “The world’s seven billionth baby was born just before midnight Sunday in a government-run hospital in the Philippines.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
