Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest on Florida’s delegates: “Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) is floating a new compromise idea for seating delegates from Florida: That the result of the January rogue primary be accepted as is, but that the overall delegate allotment be cut in half, as the Republican National Committee originally did to their unauthorized primaries. If such an idea were accepted — a big ‘if’ — then Hillary Clinton’s hypothetical delegate margin from Florida would be reduced form +38 to +19. In exchange, the candidates would haven’t to go to the trouble of running in a whole new primary contest or being in the position of throwing out Florida entirely.”
* Probably the first of several major bailouts: “Bear Stearns, one of the nation’s biggest and most prominent investment banks, stunned Wall Street Friday by announcing it had turned to a rival bank and the federal government for an emergency bailout. The surprise, last-ditch rescue effort, announced just before the stock market opened, is the latest troubling sign of how a cascading credit crisis is threatening the liquidity of even Wall Street’s most established firms.”
* I’m waiting to see the fine print on this deal: “Senate Democrats and the White House reached a deal early Friday morning on moving a host of President Bush’s nominees, according to Democratic and White House officials. In exchange for Bush’s help in moving five Democratic nominees to federal agencies and boards, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) agreed to act on 40 Republican nominees, a Democratic leadership aide said…. Despite the agreement, Democrats did not win assurances that Bush would not install some controversial nominees during the Senate’s recess, including Steven Bradbury to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department.”
* I had no idea the guy who started the Weather Channel was so far out there: “The founder of the Weather Channel wants to sue Al Gore for fraud, hoping a legal debate will settle the global-warming debate once and for all. John Coleman, who founded the cable network in 1982, suggests suing for fraud proponents of global warming, including Al Gore, and companies that sell carbon credits. ‘Is he committing financial fraud? That is the question,’ Coleman said.”
* That’s trillion, with a “t”: “The government’s debt limit would be raised to $10.2 trillion under a budget plan for next year approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The House’s fiscal 2009 budget, which passed on Thursday, would increase U.S. borrowing authority by $385 billion from the current limit of $9.815 trillion, according to the House Budget Committee.”
* What do you know, the Spitzer scandal can get worse: “Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Gov. Eliot Spitzer used campaign funds in connection with his meetings with prostitutes, including payments for hotels or ground transportation, three people with knowledge of the investigation said…. The governor’s lawyers have begun consulting with a campaign finance expert who has long worked for Mr. Spitzer’s political organization to see whether campaign money was spent on the trips, including some as recently as last month, a person briefed on the investigation said.”
* For some reason, the McCain campaign really doesn’t want to talk about “spiritual guide” Rod Parsley. Go figure.
* The White House’s arguments for bypassing Congress on a treaty with Iraq — in violation of Article II of the Constitution — are getting sillier all the time.
* Hans von Spakovsky sure is shameless. He’s teamed up with the Heritage Foundation to write a book called “Stolen Identities, Stolen Votes: A Case Study in Voter Impersonation.” Paul Kiel noted, “In it, Spakovsky takes on those liberal critics who claim that there’s no voter fraud by unearthing a 1984 grand jury investigation in Brooklyn, NY during which, he says, numerous episodes of voter fraud dating back to 1968 were uncovered. Just because the case was 24 years ago and no indictments were issued shouldn’t give us pause.” No, of course not.
* This guy was doomed: “It never did look very good for Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, the well-known plaintiffs attorney, Dem fundraiser, and brother-in-law to ex-Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS). If you got associates rattling on about knowing where the bodies are buried on a wiretapped conversation, then it’s generally safe to say that you’ve got problems. And so Scruggs, who was indicted last November, has gone down easy for his ‘boneheaded bribery scam’ to bribe a judge.”
* Speaking of dumb: “One of the country’s top federal judges has been linked to an investigation of a Denver-based prostitution ring, according to federal officials. Edward Nottingham, the chief federal judge in Denver, Colo., was “implicated as a customer” in an ongoing IRS and Denver police investigation of an alleged prostitution operation called Denver Sugar/Denver Players, according to officials.”
* And finally, this weekend is the fifth anniversary of this Dick Cheney classic: “I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.” Is this a bad time to note that McCain agreed with him?
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.