Events

Josh Marshall extends John Thune's $1 trillion stack just a tad higher: [W]hat we've done here is do an apples to apples comparison of current unemployment numbers to the stimulus spending number using the Thune Stacking Formula as a basis of comparison. Here we have dollars stacked on top of each other versus current number of unemployed Americans stacked on top of each other. Good thing the Republican Party has owned up to the last election. I'd hate to think they were a bunch of bitter, ignorant...

But DC's snow is coming from the right, not above. Exhibit: the inability of any Republicans to speak honestly about the President's proposed stimulus plan. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) doesn't understand that a stimulus bill is, by definition, a spending bill; GOP Chair Ron Steele says to Wolf Blitzer, "Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job." (Um...NASA? The military? Jim DeMint's congressional staff?) Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has a good explanation of why: [T]his isn't a...

Western Europe also. The snowfall has paralyzed (paralysed?) the entire country: South-east England has the worst snow it has seen for 18 years, causing all London buses to be pulled from service and the closure of Heathrow's runways. The Met Office has issued an extreme weather warning for England, Wales and parts of eastern Scotland. Up to four inches is forecast to fall later on Monday in south-east England, and up to 12 inches in the north-east. Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street...

The Chicago Tribune has an introduction: [T]he prospect of Gov. Quinn is shocking to many Illinois politicians who thought of him as a gadfly, a master of holding Sunday news conferences to gain media attention on traditionally slow news days. There he would pitch plans such as electing taxpayer and insurance watchdogs or non-binding referendum questions that looked good on a ballot but had no real effect, such as a ban on naming rights for Soldier Field. His two biggest achievements, the result of...

Even though it's finally above freezing at the moment in Chicago, we did make it through the entire month of January without having a single above-freezing night. It has been the coldest January in 24 years, and it looks like mid-February we'll see some more. Enough already.

Via Crain's Chicago Business, Roland Burris releases a statement about the recent unpleasantness: "Impeachment is about whether our state's best interests are being served having the governor remain in office," the statement says. "Today's conviction speaks loud and clear that there are serious issues preventing him from fulfilling those reponsibilities." Of course, appointing Mr. Burris wasn't one of those "serious issues." At least in the opinion of Mr. Burris. ... "It is my hope that today will be...

The US Geological Survey just reported a 4.5-magnitude earthquake in downtown Seattle, where the time is about 6:15 am. That'll wake you up. No damage or injuries reported yet—it was a minor earthquake—but still, what a way to start the day.

Welcome to your new office, Governor Quinn. The Illinois Senate convicted our now-ex-governor unanimously, 59-0. I guess his speech today really helped. Good thing he flew home early.

Apparently, if the Illinois senate convicts the governor (possibly today), he gets to keep his pension: The state's constitution spells out that punishment after an impeachment trial can't go beyond removal and a ban from holding office again. Should Blagojevich end up convicted in federal court of felony corruption charges, however, state retirement officials could decide to take away his pension. It's unclear whether he'd receive his pension had he simply resigned. And, of course, he gets to keep his...

Via Calculated Risk, a report that the FBI knew about mortgage fraud but couldn't do anything because they were too busy with counter-terrorism: "It is clear that we had good intelligence on the mortgage-fraud schemes, the corrupt attorneys, the corrupt appraisers, the insider schemes," said a recently retired, high FBI official. Another retired top FBI official confirmed that such intelligence went back to 2002. The problem, according to the two FBI retirees and several other current and former bureau...