The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day closer to the weekend…

• The republican presidential candidates held their final debate before Super Tuesday last night… McCain came off as smug, wearing his front-runner label (handed out by the media) as if it guaranteed him the nomination… things can happen Johnny boy… Romney came off as worrisome… Huckabee came off as not knowing when to quit, and Paul came off as… well, as Paul, do I really need to expand on that?
• The Democratic candidates (which sounds strange considering there are now only two after Edwards dropped out yesterday) go at it tonight… stay tuned.
• A new AP/Yahoo poll found that Americans have a “decidedly dour view” of how things are going in the country and carry “great expectations” for the next president’s ability to get things done. All the candidates should take full notice of this news and do their best to answer the call…
• The Senate Finance Committee passed the economic stimulus package yesterday, paving the way for it to hit the Senate floor for voting as early as today. However, because it’s the Senate and they have an ego the size of Dubya’s, they had to make changes to the one created by the White House & Democratic Leaders that was approved by the House. The Senate proposal calls for rebate checks of $500 for individuals, $1,000 for couples and $300 per child, less than the $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples in the House bill. One plus is that the Senate version would also offer rebates to 250,000 disabled veterans who wouldn't qualify for rebates under the House plan… stay tuned…
• And have we mentioned? That yet anotherr republican is retiring? Hot on the heels of Reps. Ron Lewis (r-KY) and Kenny Hulshof (r-MO) who announced this week, comes word that Tom Davis of Virginia will become the 28th (and still rising – we hope) gop congressman to announce their retirement since the 2006 mid-terms. If my math is correct, that would be close to 15% of the seats the GOP has in the House... (Heh, heh, heh… would it be wrong to gloat?)