Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A bill to give the U.S. taxpayers who live in the District of Columbia a voting representative in the House of Representatives had majority support in the Senate today, but it wasn’t enough to overcome GOP obstructionist tactics. The bill’s 57-vote majority was three short of the total needed to end a Republican filibuster. Taxation without representation continues.
* The Federal Reserve cut the target on a key short-term interest rate by half of a percentage point today. Wall Street responded very favorably to the news, with the Dow Jones finishing up over 300 points.
* In related news, “The number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month more than doubled versus August 2006 and jumped 36 percent from July, a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes amid a national housing slump.”
* U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose, who’s long been one of Bush’s more controversial prosecutors, is now under investigation from the Office of Special Counsel. There’s evidence that alleges that she “mishandled classified information, decided to fire the subordinate who called it to her attention, retaliated against others in the office who crossed her, and made racist remarks about one employee.”
* Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing Joint Chiefs chairman: “One of the mistakes I made in my assumptions going in was that the Iraqi people and the Iraqi army would welcome liberation, that the Iraqi army, given the opportunity, would stand together for the Iraqi people and be available to them to help serve the new nation.” That would be the army Cheney disbanded, right?
* Why is that the Defense Department’s civilian casualty figures and Gen. Petraeus’ figures don’t match? Inquiring minds want to know.
* When conservatives attack — each other: “Larry Klayman, the conservative lawyer best known for repeatedly taking the Clinton administration to court in the 1990s, sued supporters of the Bush administration yesterday, claiming they appropriated the name ‘Freedom’s Watch’ for use in a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in support of the Iraq war.”
* When a contractor admits to bribing a U.S. senator, it should probably be a bigger deal. “[I]t’s not every day that a witness admits in open court to having bribed a sitting U.S. Senator, which is exactly what happened last Friday, when former VECO executive Bill Allen admitted that among the bad acts he had pleaded guilty to was renovation work done on Stevens’ Alaska home. Stevens is not commenting.”
* By arming both sides of a civil war, Bush is creating the conditions for some even more catastrophic bloodshed.
* This may come as a shock, but Fox News’ coverage of Gen. Petraeus’ testimony was heavily slanted in support of the administration’s policy. Who could’ve guessed?
* Richard Cohen’s column today was so dumb, I couldn’t even bring myself to write about it. Thankfully, Steve M. showed more patience and highlighted the column’s inanity.
* Every time CNN (or any network, for that matter) contrasts “anti-war protestors and troop supporters,” it hurts just a little more.
* The White House said Solicitor General Paul Clement would serve as Acting Attorney General pending confirmation of a permanent AG. That’s apparently no longer the case — Peter Keisler, “a hard-line movement conservative,” will now be taking over. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
* MoveOn’s hard-hitting new Giuliani ad, which lambastes the former mayor for blowing off the Iraq Study Group, is going national. Good.
* Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) have all agreed to take the food stamp challenge.
* Ding dong, TimesSelect is dead.
* Thirteen House Republicans “have been served with subpoenas from defense attorneys representing Brent Wilkes, the former defense contractor charged with bribing imprisoned ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.). None of the lawmakers will comply with the subpoena.”
* Quote of the Day, from Jonathan Zasloff: “If Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and John McCain can’t stand up to Tavis Smiley, than how can they stand up to the terrorists?”
* Robert Samuelson doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I knew that, but it’s good to get the occasional reminder.
* And finally, in highly amusing television-rating news, the president’s prime-time speech on Iraq last week drew lower ratings on some networks than Sen. Jack Reed’s Democratic response. Tony Snow recently claimed, “My sense is that the American people want to hear what the President has to say.” Apparently, we’ve heard enough.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.