The Senate has reached a milestone of sorts as observed by Sen. Whitehouse (D. R.I.) in this NYTimes article on the atmosphere in the Senate leading to a vote on HRC in the Senate:

Charles Osgood indulges in a bit of cheap cynicism in a report on an overdue library book being returned to the New Bedford Public Library after 99 years.

The book is called, "Facts I Ought to Know About the Government of My Country" (Wm H. Bartlett, 1897) and Osgood largely sticks to the facts until this final cheap shot,

Here's a question, though: What would a book to tell you how the U.S. Government works, published 115 years ago, tell you about how the U.S. Government works today? Not very much, I'm afraid...

Actually the book can tell you a lot about how the U.S. Government works today -- had Osgood bothered to think about it or, heaven forbid, even look it up.

[more after the jump...]

Gail Collins (NYT):

I used to cover Lieberman when he was the majority leader of the State Senate in Connecticut. We got along very well, except for one interview, during which he talked about working for J.F.K., and how he kept a Mass card from Robert Kennedy’s funeral to remind him of the principles to which he had dedicated his career. Showing me the card, he remarked casually that he hadn’t looked at it for some time.

Surveying the current state of health care reform, I'd say it resembles nothing more than a version of 'Medicare Part D'. I mean, the outcome is bound to do a lot of good, no doubt about that, but it's going to be at a terrific cost because the original structure of the thing, as inefficient and cumbersome as it is, is being left largely intact.

When the chips are down, it's nice to know where people stand on the minimum wage.

I mean, that might as well be the headline. On the bright side, there's always Lincoln Park to sell off for next year.

Well, I guess the best thing you can say about it is the very thing that's upsetting the GOPers most, namely, giving a date certain when we can start to leave. That date, plus the date we'll start withdrawing troops from Iraq after the election there, are the metrics we have for judging whether this move is a good idea or not.

Great opinion piece from the NYT:

Ya think so?

While the fear of having cards shut down and anger over the moves banks have made can't be easily measured, there's anecdotal evidence that those emotions played into the improvement as well.

I do hope the undergrads at Berkeley get someone who's a better liberal than Brad Delong so that they get some perspective.

The guy is nothing but a mouthpiece for Rubin/Geithner -- has been since his days in the Clinton Admin.