I’m still sitting at ATL, waiting for a long-delayed flight to Poppy International in Houston, and then on to SFO and eventually Monterey. Won’t get home until tomorrow, and then the fog could be an issue. So here are some final news items before I climb into the center seat for an uncomfortable journey across America:

* Durbin makes it clear Dem position is that debt limit increase an unconditional part of any fiscal deal.

* At WaPo, Greg Sargent says White House assuring progressive groups that it will get debt limit increase without additional concessions to GOP.

* Politico‘s Manu Raju starts biennial game of figuring out which Senators up for re-election in the next cycle will retire.

* At Ten Miles Square, Andrew Gelman attributes a significant part of the Asian-American preference for Democrats to blue-state geography.

* At College Guide, Daniel Luzer evaluates the “net price” measurement for analyzing college costs, and finds it lacking.

And in non-political news:

* Powerball jackpot up to a cool half-billion.

See you tomorrow from somewhere in the United States.

Selah.

Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.