“Truckloads of Four Loko and other alcohol-laced energy drinks are being recycled into ethanol and other products after federal authorities told manufacturers the beverages were dangerous and caused users to become ‘wide-awake drunk.'” [AP, via Weigel]

We really don’t care either way about Yet Another Daley occupying the national stage — it’s not like Yet Another Quayle — but we’re getting somewhat annoyed with remarks like this, demonstrated for us by Marc Ambinder:

Choosing Daley, a well-respected Washington-and-Chicago figure, is a further signal that Obama ties the fate of his presidency to the fate of the economy and recognizes that his relationship with Congress will be much less helpful than a better rapport with the nation’s employers and job creators.

It’s long been remarked that reporters don’t know shit about economics, and as a former adept of that Evil Cult, we must include ourself among the Congenitally Clueless.

But as little as we know, we do know this:

Employers don’t create jobs. People who buy shit create jobs.

Read more »

A newly elected GOP congresswoman from Tennessee makes the best case yet for the need for a Public Option in the Health Care Reform Act… but, of course, being a Republican she’s completely oblivious to that fact.

[ Daily Kos Flash video not available. ]

The importance of the public option for Health Care Reform is nowhere more evident than here: the Public Option wasn’t intended merely as a way for the Government to get involved in the business of providing health care insurance. It was needed to prevent health insurance providers from blackmailing the government by threatening to rescind coverage to certain groups, or pull out of certain markets altogether. With a public option in place, the government could have called their bluff, inviting insurance companies to forgo the profits they might gain from servicing a particular market. As it is, health insurers now have enormous leverage over future legislation regarding coverage and pricing.

(Via: Daily Kos)

[NBC Miami]

So, now that we’re set to embark upon The Most Constitutional Congress in Six Thousand Years of World History, what’s the first thing that happens?

House Rules Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) abruptly adjourned a hearing on a GOP health care repeal bill Thursday after he became aware that Rep. Pete Sessions was not sworn in as a Member of the 112th Congress, committee spokeswoman Jo Maney said.

No, the Chief Justice wasn’t at the scene of the crime — Pete wasn’t in the room when everybody sweared fealty to teabaggers yesterday.

But wait, it gets better: Civilian Pete “offered the motion to constitute the Rules Committee,” which was duly passed, and is now duly canceled. And with no Rules Committee, there’s no Obamacare Repeal bill. Oh, there aren’t any House rules, either.

Read more »

As you’ve probably heard by now, one of the first moves of the new GOP majority in congress was to call for a reading of the U.S. Constitution from the House Floor. And if you weren’t paying attention, that’s probably what you though happened today. The Las Vegas Sun, for instance, reported on the incident thusly:

Despite it being the government’s founding document, it’s the first time it’s been read out, every article, signature, and amendment, on the floor of the House of Representatives. But the event wasn’t just in homage to the founding fathers. It was also a sign of the new influence of the Tea Party, for whom adherence to the Constitution was — as Nevadans will remember from Sharron Angle’s senatorial campaign — a major rhetorical campaigning point during the 2010 midterms.

But was that what really happened? As a matter of fact, no, that’s not what really happened. Read more »

“When Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) read the part of Article II, Section 1 mandating that only a ‘natural-born citizen’ may be president, the woman, seated in the front row of the public gallery, screamed ‘Except Obama, except Obama. Help us Jesus.'” [Politico]