Just got into a brief Twitter conversation with Erick Erickson on his view that Sen. Portman has exposed himself as something less than a real Christian. Made my point, heard his absolutist response, and moved on, not wanting to waste words or time.
Here are some final items of the day:
* Tax Policy Center calculates you’d need $5.7 trillion in “loophole closing” offsets to pay for Ryan Budget’s rate cuts.
* Because I know you have been excitedly waiting for it, here’s link to prepared remarks for Mitt Romney’s CPAC speech! I recommend you save it for an insomnia cure.
* Chait notes Portman’s “conversion” on same-sex marriage is “a confession of moral failure, of which he appears unaware.” Bingo. Similarly, Yglesias regrets no Republican senators have sons living in poverty.
* At Ten Miles Square, Aaron Carroll offers new evidence on comparisons between government-run British Health Service and U.S. system. Guess who doesn’t come off very well?
* At College Guide, Daniel Luzer reports good news that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to regulate student loan debt collection industry.
And in non-political news:
* British burial ground for medieval plague victims could help identify DNA signature of Black Death.
So here’s to another week of much political heat and the occasional light. Kathleen Geier will be handling Weekend Blogging, and we’re also expecting a wrap-up report by Adele Stan live from CPAC.
With apologies to frequent commenter Gandalf, who does not care for them, here again is the last American band to which I really paid much attention, Sleater-Kinney, performing “Good Things” and “Little Mouth” in Seattle in 1998.
Selah.
