the latest

update

President Barack Obama, followed by Press Secretary Jay Carney, arrives to talk about the ongoing budget negotiations in the briefing room at the White House

muppet show update

Steve Benen: Gallup has a new poll this morning, asking Republicans who they prefer among their GOP presidential hopefuls. It’s the first national poll taken after several prominent figures – Huckabee, Daniels, Trump, etc.  withdrew from consideration. I found the results rather interesting:

1. Mitt Romney — 17%
2. Sarah Palin — 15%
3. Rand Paul — 10%
4. Newt Gingrich — 9%
5. Herman Cain — 8%
6. Tim Pawlenty — 6%
7. Michele Bachmann — 5%
8. Jon Huntsman — 2%
8. Gary Johnson — 2%
8. Rick Santorum — 2%

…Herman Cain, for example, has a lot more support than I would have expected…Campaign reporters are closely following Pawlenty and Huntsman, but Gallup shows Cain’s support matching Pawlenty’s and Huntsman’s totals combined.

Also note Palin’s second-place showing, nearly matching Romney … after all of this time as a national laughingstock, the former half-term governor is still one of the top GOP presidential candidates at the national level … Palin still has a following, ridiculous though it may be.

Full post here

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Great stuff over at Balloon Juice where they’re suggesting names for the half termer’s movie (see here) – here are a few of them:

From Here to Inanity – Citizen Vain – Mentl – From Within Sight of Russia With Love – Not-Hur – The Devil Wears Mukluks – Driving Miss Crazy – Inarticulate Proposal – Chariots of Bile – The Woman Who Knew Too Little – Clueless – 12 Million Angry White Men – Legends of the Fail

Thank you Suzanne 😉

budget update

The White House as seen at night in Washington, April 7. President Barack Obama is meeting with both House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, regarding the budget and possible government shutdown.

Update:

‘giffords reaches ‘major milestone’ in recovery’

Washington Post: Doctors treating Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Thursday she has reached “a major milestone” medically with her ability to open her eyes and seemingly respond to her surroundings as she recovers….

In a news conference … the doctors said they were pleased that Giffords opened her unbandaged left eye “spontaneously” Wednesday night in response to the presence of friends from Congress….

G. Michael Lemole Jr., the hospital’s chief neurosurgeon, and Peter Rhee, the head of emergency care, said Giffords since then has also been able to sit on the edge of her bed and dangle her legs over the side, move both of her arms and legs and open both of her eyes.

“This is a major leap forward,” Lemole said. “This is a major milestone for her, and we’re hoping she crosses through many more.” Rhee said Giffords, 40, is “becoming more and more alert . . . and she’s making much more spontaneous movements as we have completely stopped all the medications that might blunt her mental status.”

“She’s starting to become aware of her surroundings,” Lemole said. “And that’s a very important step on her next move forward.”

…Giffords, who remains in critical condition, is one of five wounded patients who were still at the hospital Thursday morning. Rhee said four others are in fair condition. One is having surgery, and another is being discharged Thursday, he said. “Everybody is making fantastic forward progress,” Rhee said.

Full article here