Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Pelosi vs. Bush: “House Democrats handed the White House a stinging defeat Thursday over a free-trade agreement with Colombia, rejecting President Bush’s bid to force a vote on the deal before the end of the year. But even as they did this, the Democrats held out an olive branch of sorts, telling the administration that they were ready to find ways to ease the economic pain caused by free trade and the economic downturn before they took up the agreement.”
* Senate passes housing bill: “The Senate took a first step toward addressing the nation’s housing crisis today, giving overwhelming approval to a bipartisan package of tax breaks for homeowners, homebuyers and businesses hurt by the faltering economy. By an 84-to-12 vote, the Senate agreed to create a temporary $7,000 tax credit for buyers of foreclosed properties and a temporary tax deduction worth up to $1,000 for families who pay property taxes. The measure also would make available more money for foreclosure counseling and for state and local housing agencies to refinance troubled mortgages.”
* Typical: “The release of a report on the FBI’s role in the interrogations of prisoners in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq has been delayed for months because the Pentagon is reviewing how much of it should remain classified, according to the Justice Department’s watchdog. Glenn Fine, the Justice Department’s inspector general, told McClatchy that his office has pressed the Defense Department to finish its review, but officials there haven’t completed the process ‘in a timely fashion.’ ‘Why that happened, I don’t know,’ Fine said in an interview this week.”
* Mr. 28 Percent really is Mr. 28 Percent.
* Regrettably, Randi Rhodes has left Air America. Apparently, she decided she’d rather quit than apologize to Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro.
* I fully agree with Bill Scher who notes that Air America would be wise to take this opportunity to give a daily show to Sam Seder.
* Joe Lieberman, Bill Bennett, And Bill Kristol believe the lesson of the Petraeus testimony is that we should go after Iran. Of course, since they thought this before the testimony, no one cares.
* Important poll: “For the first time in 50 years of polling, a majority of Americans believe they are stuck or falling behind, according to a new Pew Research poll measuring the attitudes of the middle class…. According to the poll, 25% of respondents said they haven’t moved forward in life in the past five years, while a higher number, 31%, believe they have taken a step back…. [L]ooking at the shorter term, Pew said real median household income peaked in 1999 ‘making this decade one of the longest downturns ever for this widely-accepted measure of the middle-class standard of living.'”
* Brandon Friedman: “When 18 Americans are killed in Iraq during a four-day span, we are experiencing something other than progress. While all eyes have been on General Petraeus in Washington this week, U.S. troops have experienced the deadliest four days in Iraq since last summer.”
* McCain follows Speaker Pelosi’s lead on China and the opening ceremony at the Olympics.
* I’m sorry to see that Scott Horton is giving up on blogging; he’s an immensely talented writer. (Does it make me an awful person to wonder who Harper’s might consider as his replacement?)
* Attorney General Michael Mukasey doesn’t want to say if the Yoo memo on the Fourth Amendment is still applicable. Great.
* McCain gets the boot from Project Vote Smart.
* Some right-wing hoaxes are more humiliating than others.
* MoveOn.org scores with a great new Iraq video.
* Team Lieberman still doesn’t want to apologize for the whole “hack attack” incident from ’06.
* Brad DeLong vs. Sean Wilentz on the Dems’ electability.
* Photo-ops are rarely this amusing: “Barack Obama appeared to have a bit of an awkward moment on the campaign trail in South Bend, Indiana. From the pool report: ‘[Obama] posed for report pictures with the staff when he apparently felt his phone start to vibrate in his pocket on his right thigh – against which one woman was closely pressed. ‘Now that’s my phone buzzing there,’ he said, drawing a laugh. ‘I don’t want you to think I’m getting fresh or anything.'”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.