Dick Armey's 'tea party' history is a strange brew | WaPo

Dana Milbank at the Washington Post catches Tea Party leader Dick Armey arguing with the Founder Fathers. 

"Armey is intellectually versatile: The former leader of House Republicans went from being a rainmaker for a Washington lobbying firm to being the unofficial leader of the anti-Washington "tea party" movement.

China Points Water Pistol at Our Heads | Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman does a good job of explaining why the popular notion that we don't dare alienate the Communist Chinese because we need to borrow money from them is false. We're now financing much of our own debt and if China dumped U.S. currency it would stimulate our economy, although it would hurt Wall Mart, the PRC's retail outlet. 

Whitman's funds could pose conflicts | latimes.com

California politics may actually be even more entertaining without the Gubernator than now, believe it or not. 

First volleys: Billionaire GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman says she'll "run California like a business"; so appropriately, her first idea for fixing California's budget crisis is massive layoffs. 

I wonder if anyone will tell her that when you lay people off from a business, they go to work elsewhere, when you lay off citizens, they're still here, they just can't pay taxes or their bills. Perhaps Whitman's next step is to Shanghai those laid off and ship them to plants in China. That would be one way to "downsize" California. 

Meanwhile, a first peak at Whitman's finances is interesting: Cayman tax dodges for investing in Moldova, vulture funds investing in distressed properties while promising no public disclosure ... some details from the LA Times: 

Glenn Beck Calls Christian Charity Nazi | NYTimes.com

Oh, this is priceless. Glenn Beck has made a career worth $23 Million a year from selling hatred for poor people and progress, but now he's taken his venom spitting to a new level: Beck says Christian calls for social justice are either Nazi or Communist or both (note how Beck, like many in the GOP, can never quite tell the difference between the two). From the NYT:

Obama Blocking Financial Regulation | FT.com

While President Obama is trotting out Paul Volcker State-side for photo ops proclaiming the need for financial regulation, his treasury secretary is over in Europe fighting to block regulation that would restrict secret trading in toxic derivatives, supposedly because it will "impose barriers to business" -- the same old, pro-Wall Street argument used to justify the de-regulation that led to the world banking collapse in the first place. 

Remember, when the Bush43 SEC decided to let Wall St. Banks police themselves, it helped Goldman Sachs, Citibank and JP Morgan get around European oversight by assuring the Europeans that those firms were being regulated in the U.S. In effect, Obama and Geither are telling the E.U., "trust us again; it worked really well last time." 

From the Financial Times: "The British prime minister shares the concerns of Tim Geithner, US treasury secretary, that a draft EU directive to introduce tighter regulatory controls could impose new barriers to business.

Harry Reid on Reconciliation: In Your Face McConnell

From today's letter by Harry Reid, Senate Majority leader to GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell answering criticisms of using reconciliation to finalize health reform:

Why Are Germans Able to Stop their Toyota's But Americans Can't? | der Spiegel

While the U.S. media continues to pile on Toyota, a competing meme is developing abroad. 

On BBCTV an industry analyst said it was curious the Toyota defects got so much more attention than much greater safety problems posed by American SUVs. He noted that automotive deaths happen all the time, but this problem became a major media issue only after the U.S. took control of GM. Similar speculation is featured throughout Europe and Japan. 

In the U.S. skepticism seems to be allowed only in the trades and blogosphere; Car and Driver magazine did a test showing that a Corolla going at 70 MPH, with the gas pedal floored, could still be braked to a full stop in a shorter distance than a Ford Escort with the pedal up. The "Opinionator" author Robert Wright points out the math showing the extremely low risk  from Toyota flaws. Wright's theory is that American's are math illiterate and thus lack the ability to evaluate this risk. 

Last night television repeatedly showed us a terrified driver who couldn't stop his Prius -- until the State Police pulled up next to him on the freeway and told him to use the brakes, then they worked. To believe some of the stories -- presented unquestioningly on U.S. television -- you have to accept that the accelerator stuck at the same time the brakes failed, and at the same time the transmission refused to shift. 

This article from Germany's der Spiegel magazine, asks why Germans are able to use their brakes to stop their Toyota's, but American drivers' can't. Good question:

Karl Rove as Jean Valjean: An Upside-Down Look at the Plame Affair | Declassified Blog - Newsweek.com

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff dissects attempts by Bush43's political Svengali to paint himself in his new book "Courage and Consequence" as a victim in the leaking of classified information:

Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 2:10 PM
Karl Rove as Jean Valjean: An Upside-Down Look at the Plame Affair 

Bigelow Forgot to Thank Bush-Cheney for Oscar | Leno

Monologue | Monday night on “The Jay Leno Show” on NBC: Record ratings for the Oscars last night. Kathryn Bigelow won best director for her film about the Iraq war. But in her speech, she forgot to thank the two people without whom this film could never have been made — Bush and Cheney.

Fears of $1 Billion Blackwater deal, from AP via SF Chron

Remember Blackwater, the politically connected far-right-wing "consulting" group banned by the Iraqi government? It's now called Xe and is looking for a $1 Billion deal in Afghanistan.

"A senior Senate Democrat said Thursday the Pentagon should consider barring Blackwater, now called Xe Services, from a new $1 billion deal to train Afghan police because of "serious questions" about the contractor's conduct.