Biden trip yields few tangible returns
"America will do more, but American will ask more from its partners," he said in a speech that was warmly received but might have had some European officials privately longing for the Bush administration's tendency not to expect much, if anything, of Old Europe. Biden did not return to Washington with any intriguing public promises of new help in Afghanistan from European leaders, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy, or on stopping Iran's nuclear program from Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. Sitting beside Biden prior to their hour-long meeting Sunday, Ivanov declared Biden's offer "to press the reset button" on U.S.-Russian relations that had become badly strained by the end of the Bush years a "very positive" development. But their hour-long meeting produced no apparent breakthroughs.
What the centrists have wrought
The Nelson-Specter-Collins cuts are stupid and will cost 600,000 jobs, Krugman says
Sebelius, Bredesen up for HHS spot
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is the leading contender to replace Tom Daschle as President Obama's choice for secretary of Health and Human Services, with Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen also remaining under consideration, administration officials told Politico. The officials said others might be in the mix and that a decision was likely soon.
Senate Rankings, February 2009 Edition
Races are ranked in order of their likelihood of changing parties in November 2010, accounting for all factors such as potential retirements, primary challenges, and so forth.
