• 17% of the budget will be affected by the cap

• » Subject to cuts: Reports say that the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Energy, Transportation, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services will be affected by the cuts. Guess what, kids? D.C.’s about to have a three-year recession.
• » Unaffected by cuts: Social Security and Medicare (he couldn’t touch those even if he wanted), and organizations affected by military, veterans, homeland security and international affairs. The cuts only take on discretionary spending.

A douchey comment by Michael Steel:

• Given Washington Democrats’ unprecedented spending binge, this is like announcing you’re going on a diet after winning a pie-eating contest.
• Rep. John Boehner’s spokesman Michael Steel • Regarding the budget cuts. Considering the year of controversial spending that the Obama administration has just had, we imagine any cuts in the nature of this would be welcomed by the right. Or maybe they’ll make jokes about pie contests. We’ll see. source

• Note: in an earlier version of this story, we mistook Michael Steel for RNC chair Michael Steele. We apologize. We’re sure he gets that a lot. At least we’re not alone in making this boneheaded mistake.Thanks to Joel McDonald for correcting us below. Much appreciated.
  

• Nice hair, Robbie Robert Gibbs took to “Fox News Sunday” to deflect the Scott Brown thingy for Obama, but really, all we could focus on was the mini-pompadour in his hair. Is he gunning to be Conan’s replacement or something?
• 
  “Like a thunderbolt”Among other topics that CBS’ “Face The Nation” tackled was the campaign finance ruling in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Their take? The Scott Brown victory (and this decision) came just in time for the GOP to capitalize.
• 
  Where’s the backbone? Rachel Maddow makes a pretty good slam on what she sees as Democratic wimpiness – taking Erroll Southers out of the TSA nomination, going limp after Scott Brown’s win – with a good point: The Dems are still in power.

• 53% approval rating, which is up slightly (+/- 3%)

On race relations:

• 58% of Americans thought Obama would change race relations before his inauguration
• 41% of Americans say he’s actually improved race relations in his first full year in office source

• Where was the freefall? Strangely enough, it was largest among other blacks. While white voters dipped to about 40 percent from 55 percent, blacks were at 75 percent a year ago, free-falling to 51 percent – a 24-point decline.

• I guarantee you that the average person, white or black, right now is less concerned about what Harry Reid said in a quote in a book a couple of years ago than how we are going to move the country forward.
• President Barack Obama • Going up to bat, again, for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It seems like this controversy has gotten a bit out of control this week, with everyone going all willy-nilly about what Reid said. Know why? Simple – lots of people think they can weaken the Democrats by attacking Reid for something he said a couple of years ago that was quoted in a book. Obama’s absolutely right. Let it die, echo chamber. It’s not worth the hours of arguing over on CNN and Fox News. source

• 96.7% of bills passed went Obama’s way source

• ⅓ of House defectors since 1980 lost their next election source

• All it needs for final passage is 51 votes tomorrow morning. It was a long road to get here, boys, but it seems we’re reaching an epic point. The Senate passed its final 60-vote hurdle today, leading the way for a simple up-down vote tomorrow on the bill. If Joe Lieberman wants to defect on this specific vote, he can. The GOP still isn’t happy and – duh – will do everything they can to derail the bill after the vote. source

• This is one of those videos that gives us hot flashes. Joe Lieberman, currently looked at as an evil bastard by the left for his blatant about-face on the health-care bill, does not get any love from Sen. Al Franken, who’s totally in “Stuart Saves His Family” hero mode. John McCain has Joe’s back, but you know, this is almost as good as Joe Wilson’s “You Lie” comment for pure entertainment value. We’re gonna let this one stand.
  Update: TPM makes a really good point about the shutdown. source

• It is business as usual, spending money like a drunken sailor, and the bar is still open.
• Sen. John McCain • On the latest spending bill passed tonight. The Senate pushed it through with little Republican support and lots of Republican whining. The $447 billion omnibus spending bill, with lots of Democratic earmarks, hits Obama’s desk next, but not without lots of political ammo for the GOP to bring into the 2010 election season. source