Discover GOP Opprobrium

[teapeebubbles]

Today's edition of quick hits:

* With seven-and-a-half hours to go until the shutdown: "Senate Democratic leaders say a final deal to avert a government shutdown rests in the hands of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and will only happen if he drops an attempt to defund Planned Parenthood."

* Even if they somehow strike a deal tonight, "both sides agree" that it's "already too late for Congress to enact that complicated budget into law before midnight." It would take a day just to write a bill, and Congress would need a short-term spending bill, lasting perhaps until tomorrow, if an agreement can be reached.

* Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a close ally of Speaker Boehner, seems to think a final deal may still be reached by this evening.

* Republicans deny that the main sticking point is Planned Parenthood funding, but Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says emails -- which can be obtained through FOIA -- will prove Dems are telling the truth.

* No one seemed angrier about Republicans targeting Planned Parenthood than some of the Democratic women serving in the Senate.

* House Republicans voted today to repeal net neutrality. That's an extremely bad idea, and President Obama has already vowed to veto the measure should it reach his desk.

* I still find it extraordinary that her recovery has progressed this far, this quickly: "Rep. Gabrielle Giffords plans to attend the April 29 launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which her husband, Mark Kelly, will command, Giffords' office confirmed on Friday."

* When you know the House GOP's antics have pushed the line of decency too far: "Tea Party-affiliated Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida is out with a statement in which he says he is 'disgusted at the perception that Leaders in my own Party...are now using the men and women in uniform' to pass a short-term budget bill."

* It's as if CNN is trying to be awful: "CNN got in on the action Friday afternoon with a little segment that lets 'you decide' whether Trump's [birther] rants are valid or not, treating a point of fact as though it were theory. 'Donald Trump says Obama wasn't born here,' CNN anchor Deborah Feyerick says, in a teaser for the segment. 'We'll show you the evidence, and let you decide.'"

* As costs of higher ed go up, where does all the money go?

* Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) quotes the White Stripes at some length during floor remarks, which I suspect is a congressional first. Good for her.