The Supreme Court declined to fast-track a challenge to the health care reform law, and will allow the circuit courts of appeal to take up the question of the constitutionality of the individual mandate. This likely means that they won't get around to a ruling of their own, assuming that whatever the appeals courts decide will get appealed up to them, until 2012 at the earliest. In fact, a decision could come right in the middle of the Presidential election. link

Bill Black, H/T Yves Smith:

Here is how I responded to Kai Ryssdal, Marketplace's business journalist, who asked about Geithner's rationale:

Ryssdal: What about the argument, though, that the financial system is so fragile still, and these cases so complicated, that we can't really tear things apart with substantive investigations and prosecutions because it will all fall apart again?
Black: Yeah, that's an excellent point. We should leave felons in charge of our largest financial institutions as a means of achieving financial stability.
Ryssdal: See, that's funny because I was expecting you to come back with -- I don't know, JPMorgan earned $5 billion last quarter. How shaky can they be?

In retrospect, that interchange should have been a warning to me - Ryssdal actually thought Geithner's position favoring immunity for elite felons was acceptable when financial conditions are "shaky."

I've heard of not looking in the rear view mirror and not playing the blame game. But actively recruiting the people responsible for Abu Ghraib to be Democratic senators is taking this to a new level:

It's being reported this morning that Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez may run for the open Senate seat in Texas, with the blessing of DSCC chair Patty Murray. A DSCC spokesman says Sanchez would make a "strong candidate," in part because of his "proven commitment to our nation's security."

But making them Senators sends an excellent signal. When Lyndie England getting out of jail. Maybe we can make her the first female Ambassador to Iraq? digby

Social Security Cuts Should Not Be Ruled Out

"You have the House Republican budget from Congressman Paul Ryan, who I know and like, which is going to be placed somewhere on the right side of the spectrum. You have the president's suggestion, which will be on the other side of the spectrum. And if and when we reach an agreement, it will be in the middle, a bipartisan effort, which I think has a chance to succeed," Durbin said in an interview for ABC News' "Subway Series."
...
Durbin criticized a resolution put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a liberal independent from Vermont, that says Social Security should not be cut under a deficit reduction plan. Durbin said he would not vote for such a resolution.

This chart nicely shows where the money will have to come from when raising income taxes.

Republicans are demanding that Democrats extend Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels at least temporarily, not just those that primarily benefit the middle class. They are also pressing Democrats to approve a measure to keep the government funded through September, a move aimed at avoiding a fight with the White House over spending that could provoke a government shutdown.

In return, Obama is seeking Republican support for as much as $150 billion in new spending on the economy, including an additional 13 months of emergency jobless benefits and another year of his signature "Making Work Pay" tax cut for working families.

The repeal of the Illinois death penalty had claimed its first victim.

Berlin said Smirnov had done research on the Internet to determine if Illinois had the death penalty, deciding to go through with Vesel's murder when he discovered it does not.

If we're lucky, we may get to see a photo of O with Beast . . . we can all say "Awwwwwww!"