1.) Rand ganks Geithner — Turbotax Timmy has had a tough week, and it’s only getting worse. TheDC’s Matthew Boyle reports: “Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul announced early Wednesday morning that he plans to push the Senate to hold a vote of no confidence in Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Unlike in the United Kingdom’s Parliament, where a no confidence vote would remove him, a U.S. Senate vote of no confidence would be a symbolic measure that would send a signal to the president. ‘The stock market gave a vote of no confidence to Timothy Geithner yesterday and for the past 11 days,’ Paul said in a statement. ‘Geithner has shown no acumen in predicting, diagnosing, or treating America’s economic woes.'” Yeah, but other than that… Boy, talk about a tough crowd. You want to kick the guy out just because he’s always wrong and always makes things worse? Next you’ll start talking about replacing Obama!
2.) What are Obama’s odds of re-election? Wanna bet? — TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports: “As goes the Dow Jones Industrial Average, so goes Obama’s stock: According to Intrade, Americans are losing confidence in President Barack Obama’s ability to win re-election. Intrade is a website where users place bets on the outcome of future events. On Intrade, people buy and sell shares of future events based on how likely they think it is that something will occur. In the past few weeks, Obama’s stock has dropped. As of Tuesday, traders gave Obama just a 50.1 percent chance of being re-elected. Those odds have seen a steady decline since August 3, when traders gave Obama a 56 percent chance of returning for a second term.” In case you’re wondering, back in 2008 Intrade called the election for Obama two weeks early, giving him 364 electoral votes to McCain’s 174. The actual result was 365-173. So take heart, lefties: Intrade got it wrong!
3.) Gravel may cast first stone — If Obama thinks his path is rocky now, just wait. TheDC’s Steven Nelson reports: “Despite speculation that President Barack Obama will face a primary challenge from disaffected liberals in 2012, no candidate has emerged. That may be about to change. ‘Somebody should challenge Obama, there’s no question about it. He is what he is, and it’s not what we want,’ former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel said in an interview with The Daily Caller. ‘I’d be happy to do it, but it takes money. Without enough money to be heard, you come off as somewhat foolish.’ Gravel said he will challenge Obama if there is sufficient financial backing. ‘If [supporters] would put up $1 million, I probably would run. And that would at least fund enough activity to get a message out,’ Gravel said.” Then he stared into the camera silently for a full minute, heaved a big rock into the pond behind him, and walked away.
4.) Cheeseheads cry over spilt milk — It looks like the Democrats in Wisconsin will need to find some other way to thwart the will of the people. The Associated Press reports from Madison: “Republicans held onto control of the Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday, beating back four Democratic challengers in a recall election despite an intense political backlash against GOP support for Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to curb public employees’ union rights. Fueled by millions of dollars from national labor groups, the attempt to remove GOP incumbents served as both a referendum on Walker’s conservative revolution and could provide a new gauge of the public mood less than a year after Republicans made sweeping gains in this state and many others. Two Democratic incumbents face recalls next week, but even if Democrats win those they will still be in the minority.” TheDC’s Mickey Kaus sums it up: “It looks as if the organized labor movement has failed to recall enough Wisconsin Republicans to regain control of the state senate. That’s a) in an off-year election where union turnout usually makes the difference b) in famously progressive Wisconsin c) after spending many millions d) with a nationwide media and organizing push e) when labor had a galvanizing issue in Gov. Scott Walker’s direct assault on the institutional collective bargaining power of public employees, which led to a dramatic walkout by Democrats.” And the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explains why the unions are so ticked off: “So it turns out that the sky isn’t going to fall on all local governments in Wisconsin. The numbers now starting to come in show that Gov. Scott Walker’s ‘tools’ for local governments apparently will help at least some of them deal with cuts in state aid imposed by the state budget. That’s contrary to the expectation and the rhetoric of critics in the spring, and it’s to Walker’s credit.” Oh. So he was right? Oh.
5.) Frank and beans — Rep. Barney Frank is known to emit unpleasant noises and foul smells. And then he farts. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports: “Live television has its drawbacks. A big one is that you never know when an accident might happen. Exhibit A: Monday night’s ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ on MSNBC. While talking to Maddow’s audience about jobs and unemployment, Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat, might have accidentally let one rip, so to speak.” Watch the video and judge for yourself. Right after Frank says, “We’ve gotta get some jobs,” he follows through by creating one for his dry cleaner.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “London….which cities are next?”
7.) Today’s words of wisdom from Adam Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “Presumably, London-type riots would not last long in either Texas or Arizona.”
VIDEO: London woman unleashes heroic, profanity-laced tirade against rioters
