This and that...

Just a couple of quick thoughts on the past few hours/days in politics:

• Obama's speech has been analyzed to death. Politico has a nice review of what Obama was saying between the lines.
• Jindal was just plain weak. He's been analyzed to death too. There's a reason I call him the Indian Clarence Thomas: extreme right-wing ultra-conservative that doesn't say much but when he does say something he sounds like an idiot.
• I don't know anything about Gary Locke other than his Democratic response to one of W.'s State of the Union addresses. I reached out to a friend in Washington state to get his thoughts but haven't heard back.

That's it for now. More when I get another chance...

Tom Friedman's column in today's New York Times

Thomas L. Friedman pens yet another great column in today's New York Times showing his expertise on South Asian affairs. Check it out if you can.

Stimulus done; next stop: Housing

Now that the stimulus is done, the President will be announcing his housing plan at 12:15pm today. In a well choreographed moment, 29 minutes after the bill was signed, the first infrastructure project paid for with stimulus money began: the construction of a bridge in Missouri. A lot of folks are saying this is a classic Rahm Emanuel move.

Ooh, a thinker. Why would we have wanted that?

Politico reports that President Obama actually wants to think through recommendations from the Department of Defense and ask probing questions about the usage of troops. Wow, this is what it feels like to have a president that likes to think with his brain? It's a far cry from the 7th worst president of all-time.

Presidential Survey

C-SPAN released their new survey of presidents, ranking the 42 people that have been POTUS prior to Barack Obama. Highlights/surprises:

• Abe Lincoln was #1, George Washington #2 ... James Buchanan dead last at #42. (Oh gee, surprise, surprise.)
• George W. Bush debuts at #36 on this list
• Ronald Reagan cracks the top ten at #10
• Bill Clinton is the greatest living president at #15
• Harry Truman at #5?

Check out the list and enjoy!

House Passes Stimulus

The House passed the Stimulus bill by a vote of 246-183 with one member voting present. The bill will be voted on in the Senate sometime today. The vote will most likely occur around 5:00pm, which the monotonous C-SPAN voice said is "to accommodate religious beliefs of some members." In other words, so Joe Lieberman can vote for the bill.

I'm curious to know who voted "Present". House.gov does not have any information yet.

On to the Senate...

House and Senate to Vote today; Stimulus bill now $787 Billion

Looks like the House will hold a vote around 1:00pm today and the Senate sometime later in the day on the stimulus bill. Looks like President Obama could get his wish of having the bill on his desk prior to President's Day. Stay tuned...