Today’s edition of quick hits:
* For President Obama, avoiding next week’s sequestration cuts should be a “no-brainer.” I’m reasonably certain congressional Republicans disagree.
* This sounds like yet another overly-generous offer: “President Barack Obama supports $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in revenue for a sequester replacement bill, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday.”
* Democratic governors are getting increasingly involved in lobbying Congress to fix the sequester before it’s too late.
* I have no idea what Senate Republicans think they got out of the additional week: “A week has passed since a Republican filibuster stalled Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be defense secretary, and yesterday we received even more evidence that Hagel will win confirmation on Tuesday.”
* Have I mentioned lately that austerity is a bad idea? “Credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Britain’s government bond rating one notch from the top AAA to AA1, citing weaknesses in the economy’s medium-term outlook.”
* Yes, Obamacare deserves a fair amount of credit for this: “The number of double-digit rate increases requested by health insurers has plummeted over the past four years, according to a Friday report from the Obama administration.”
* In the abstract, spending cuts are popular. In specific, they’re wildly unpopular.
* The Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky had a “no good, very bad week.” I can’t say I find that especially disappointing. * The Democratic super-majority in California’s state legislature is no more. * Rush Limbaugh is increasingly invested in the notion that he’s “embarrassed and ashamed of this country.” Don’t liberals get in trouble if they say anything remotely similar to this? Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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