This isn't the most pressing problem facing the country -- it isn't even in the top twenty -- but Sen. Herb Kohl nonetheless has a point when he wonders why it should cost 20 cents to text a question mark to a friend.

In his letter, Kohl points out that Sprint was the first major carrier to up its text messaging charges, increasing them from 10 to 20 cents. The others eventually followed suit. Kohl believes, as many others do, that text messages are so small that they do not warrant such a large rate increase. The senator also points out that since all four carriers raised the price around the same time, they have not engaged in the "vigorous price competition" that is expected in a free market. The big four wireless carriers serve more than 90 percent of the cell phone market, so the absence of competition for text message pricing is definitely worth looking into.

Examining the larger problem of lax antitrust enforcement -- the Justice Department's current philosophy that if two or three or four huge companies share an entire market, that's all the competition we need, even when it amounts to no competition at all -- might be a more productive use of the senate's time.

Here's more evidence of Republican incompetence to manage the government, as if more were needed:

The government wasted millions of dollars on four no-bid contracts it handed out for Hurricane Katrina work, including paying $20 million for a camp for evacuees that was never inspected and proved to be unusable, investigators say.

Not to mention the Fence to Nowhere:

The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that cost overruns, legal obstacles and other problems were imperiling its goal of completing the 670 miles of fencing and technological improvements on the Southwest border that President Bush has promoted as vital to securing it.

[more ...]

The Minnesota Court of Appeals today heard oral arguments in Sen. Larry Craig's appeal of the denial of his motion to vacate his guilty plea for foot-tapping in an airport bathroom stall to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

The attorney, Billy Martin, told the three-judge panel that Craig's behavior was "as consistent with innocence as it is with guilt."

More...

It would almost be funny if it weren't so outrageous. Republicans aren't satisfied with the willingness of some congressional Democrats to negotiate in good faith about a comprehensive energy policy that might permit limited offshore drilling (with environmental safeguards and a requirement that drilling leases actually be used) in exchange for development of wind and solar energy and reduced subsidies for oil companies.

Republicans, who threw this year's appropriations process into chaos by trying to force drilling provisions into spending bills, renewed their calls Monday for an up-or-down vote on lifting the drilling ban.

Why do Republicans believe that only bills of importance to Republicans are entitled to an up-or-down vote? Republicans have set a record in the last two years in their use of the filibuster to obstruct new legislation. Senate Republicans have filibustered something like 80 pieces of legislation in the current session of Congress. Funny how the suddenly sacrosanct up-or-down vote wasn't important on any of those occasions. [more ...]

The California Prison Guards Union is seeking to recall Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It sounds like the guards want a pay raise. Gov. Arnie isn't fazed:

"I'm not going to get intimidated by those guys," Schwarzenegger told reporters in the Capitol on Monday after a ceremony honoring California's Olympic medalists. "The state should not spend more money than we take in, and their intimidation tactics will not make me change my mind whatsoever, because I happen to not represent the CCPOA. I represent the people of California."

The guards need a million signatures to get the recall on the ballot.

Digby writes about the Democratic Convention:

I was quite surprised at how ... well, progressive everyone was. The Democratic party is beginning to unapologetically identify itself as ideological again, tempered with a new pragmatism about Obama and what we can expect him to accomplish on his own. There wasn't much disagreement at all on issues or the fact that the party establishment is not going to do what needs to be done without strong outside pressure.

The task before us, as a progressive movement, is to figure out how to make them do it. . . .

(Emphasis supplied.) Agreed. But, here's my question, where was this awareness for the past year? And what evidence is there of it now, other than Convention cocktail party talk?

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

A thought experiment.

Among the people whose names were bandied about as potential VP picks included Charlie Crist, elected the Governor of Florida in 2006, after 4 years as Florida's Attorney General, Tim Kaine, elected the Governor of Virginia in 2006, after 4 years as Lieutenant Governor, and Bobby Jindal, elected Governor of Louisiana after serving 3 years in Congress.

More . . .

Lewis’ role in tonight’s program “shows the magnanimity of Barack Obama,” said House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, who is the highest ranking African-American in Congress. Clyburn, who like Lewis was jailed as a civil rights activist in his younger days, acknowledged Lewis’ significance to African-Americans’ battle for equality.

An utter disgrace.

Speaking for me only

NOTE - this post is Obama's fault because he did not announce his VP today.

Kos quoting a WaPo blogger:

If Obama's campaign had planned to roll out their vice presidential pick at any point today, that announcement is likely to be put on hold. Why? The campaign believes the story about McCain's many houses is political gold and they won't want to step on it with a veep announcement that would immediately change the day's storyline.

Actually, it does not make sense to me. Unless, all the Obama camp will be doing tomorrow re: the VP is the text message, which I find impossible to believe. The VP rollout requires an event - where the Presidential candidate and the Vice Presidential candidate appear together. That will happen tomorrow obviously and that clearly was the plan throughout. Which, btw, leads me to linking to poblano making a good point again:

Bump and Update: Stephanie Tubbs Jones died about 6:12 pm ET.

***

Initial media information was incorrect. She is still alive but in critical condition. Contrary to media reports earlier, she did not die this morning. She suffered an anuerism while driving in Cleveland last night.

A 2007 profile of Rep. Jones is here.

My condolences go out to her family. She was 58 years old.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Fred Baron, the Texas lawyer who served as Finance Chair for John Edwards' campaign, not only may have paid money to Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young from his personal funds, but that he might have recommended their lawyers to them.

But what went unnoticed was that the two lawyers shared an important connection to Mr. Edwards that suggests they were part of an orchestrated effort to protect him, one that is continuing even after he admitted last week that he had an affair with Ms. Hunter but denied that he fathered her child. The lawyers are linked through Fred Baron, a wealthy Dallas lawyer and former finance chairman for the Edwards campaign who was a key player in the campaign’s response to the scandal. Mr. Gordon has worked with Mr. Baron on class-action personal injury cases,...

Unnoticed? The Times does not report that blogs such as Deceiver and Riehl World View have been reporting this for days. [Added: Deceiver says it's the McGovern angle it out-scooped the Times on, not this one.)

Yesterday, I brought out another reason to suspect Baron and lawyers for Young, Hunter and even John Edwards had coordinated their denials of the paternity allegation against Edwards to the media: [More...]

Bill Gwatney, 49, Chair of the Arkansas Democratic Party was shot and killed today at the party's headquarters. The lone gunman is dead.

More details here.