Today’s edition of quick hits.
* After Republicans successfully blocked consideration of a better bill yesterday, the Senate returned to the fiscal stimulus again today: “Senate Democrats have agreed to an amended version of a House-approved plan to spur the economy, making swift passage of a final stimulus measure likely. The new Senate plan, which will likely get Senate approval by Thursday evening, would pay one-time rebates to more than 100 million low- and middle-income households, 20 million senior citizens living off of Social Security and 250,000 disabled veterans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had hoped for a more expansive package. He said Thursday afternoon that the Senate had an obligation to improve on the House bill and ‘we’ve done that.'”
* The Clinton campaign is pushing back very aggressively against the notion that it’s experiencing financial trouble. In a conference call with reporters today, the campaign’s finance team explained that it’s collected $7.5 million is since Feb. 1 (none of which includes loans from the candidate), and $6.4 million of that total has come since the polls closed on Super Tuesday. The campaign also emphasized that “all” of the campaign staff has been “100% paid.”
* The annual CPAC conference, arguably the leading national right-wing political gathering, kicked off today in DC. Apparently, CPAC attendees were specifically encouraged not to boo John McCain, who turned down an invitation to attend last year’s conference. The instructions didn’t work — McCain brought up immigration, and was quickly met with boos anyway.
* NYT: “At the time that the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed videotapes of the interrogations of operatives of Al Qaeda, a federal judge was still seeking information from Bush administration lawyers about the interrogation of one of those operatives, Abu Zubaydah, according to court documents made public on Wednesday. The court documents, filed in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, appear to contradict a statement last December by Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director, that when the tapes were destroyed in November 2005 they had no relevance to any court proceeding, including Mr. Moussaoui’s criminal trial.”
* The vast majority of House retirements are Republicans this year, but not all: “Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.) announced Thursday that she will not be running for reelection, becoming the first Democrat from a competitive seat to announce her retirement this election cycle…. The six-term congresswoman was a leading centrist in the Democratic caucus, winning a Salem-based district that narrowly voted for President Bush in the last two presidential elections. The district gave President Bush 50 percent of the vote in 2004.”
* Are McCain’s far-right critics putting his age on the table? “‘The whole question of securing his base and the Republican disquiet with him makes it almost mandatory that McCain consider going with a conservative running mate who would get those people energized,’ [American Conservative Union head David Keene] said. ‘And given his age, he’s likely to be a one-term president anyway.'”
* TPMM: “Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) wanted some clarity during his questioning. Was the attorney general really saying that anyone who acted pursuant to a Justice Department legal opinion was ‘insulated from criminal liability?’ Mukasey wanted to say it more carefully. ‘I think what I said was that we could not investigate or prosecute somebody for acting in reliance on a Justice Department opinion.'” If the Justice Department made a mistake and gave the wrong advice, it wouldn’t matter, Mukasey said, those who broke the law wouldn’t be prosecuted.
* We haven’t heard much from Jack Murtha lately. That apparently is about to change: “A top Democrat said Thursday he is preparing legislation that would give President Bush the war funding he wants this year, but on the condition that troops leave Iraq by the end of the year. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, said he’ll propose that the House vote this March on the spending measure. In addition to the troop withdrawal, he said he’ll ask for other conditions such as that all deploying troops must be fully trained and equipped. Similar bills scraped by on party line votes in the House last year only to fail in the Senate, where Democrats hold a more narrow margin of control and 60 votes are needed to overcome procedural hurdles. Murtha, speaking to reporters following a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he’s confident this bill would pass the House, but he’s not sure about the Senate.”
* And finally, Fox News personality John Gibson heralded the recent arrest of Christopher Holder, a Florida teenager, who was arrested for disorderly conduct and breach of peace for rapping the lyrics of a song that included the word “motherfu**er.” (The teen pleaded guilty and received six months of probation.) Gibson was pleased, but wants more: “If the rap song is bad enough to cause Holder’s arrest, why is it not bad enough to cause the arrest of the guy who made the recording?” Gibson asked. He concluded, “I say … Book ’em, Dano. Book ’em all.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.