One of those mornings of alternation between everything happening and nothing at all.
Here are some midday news and views items, piping hot:
* Ponnuru reports House may pass its fiscal proposal and then leave town.
* Precedent hard-liner Chait calls that possibility “chilling.”
* Pelosi indicates virtually all House Dems could vote for Senate plan as she understands it.
* Felix Salmon argues that the sequester already in place is a form of debt default.
* Panetta goes all Green Lantern in criticizing Obama for not personally resolving budget differences.
And in non-political news:
* Fisticuffs nearly break out between lawyers at hearing on A-Rod’s appeal of suspension.
Back after a brief lunch break. Here’s more Duke Ellington, with “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”
