Welcome back, furloughed federal workers! Note our fifth item below.
Here are some midday news/views treats for the final day of this curious week of dodged bullets:
* It’s no surprise, but the timing is interesting: the DeMint-founded Senate Conservatives Fund endorses Mitch McConnell’s primary opponent.
* Tom Foley, the last Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House before Nancy Pelosi, dies at 84.
* Now that deficits aren’t a real urgent problem, Greg Sargent suggests a new “grand bargain” that doesn’t involve tax increases: a huge increase in infrastructure investment to goose the economy in exchange for tax cuts.
* At TAP Paul Starr argues it’s time to revive filibuster reform pressure as Senate considers D.C. Circuit appointments.
* WaPo’s Ellen McCarthy chronicles woes of returning federal workers dealing with stockpiled emails.
And in non-political news:
* Google stocks surge past $1000 per share as video and mobile ad revenues spike.
As we break for lunch, here’s another Johnny Horton song about the 49th state: “When It’s Springtime In Alaska (It’s Forty Below)”:
