Usually it's political power players who are the ones dining in Washington; recently, Washington and Hollywood collided as White House Healthcare adviser Ezekiel Emanuel (brother of Rahm) dined in D.C. with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Larry David.
Ezekiel, now a blogger for the newly-launched Atlantic Food Channel, wrote a review for that site about his dinner with David at the Blue Duck Tavern recently.
The blog showcased all of David's famous neuroses (he won't eat anything with meat or cream due to high cholesterol) and Ezekiel's famous family (references to brother Ari, the Hollywood superagent who represents David).
"When advised -- by his agent and friend [Ari] -- that he should just take a statin and eat to his heart's delight, Larry dismissed the idea," Emanuel wrote.
"I attract every side effect of these drugs," David was quoted as saying.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) took aim at South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (D) for, it says, putting politics ahead of his own state.
The 30-second ad says Sanford put "politics ahead ahead of healthcare, jobs, and schools" when he rejected some portions of the federal stimulus package alotted for his own state.
The ad, which will air on cable television, is expected to last at least a week, according to DNC spokesman Damien LaVera.
Here's a question: Who is more popular during the honeymoon phase of President Obama's administration: the president or the first lady?
If it's a competition, this new Rasmussen survey shows Michelle Obama is holding her own. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they view the first lady somewhat or very favorably. That compares to 30 percent that view her unfavorably.
Those numbers are slightly better than the president's. Rasmussen's daily tracking found that 57 percent approve of Obama's job performance (Rasmussen, evidently, doesn't poll Obama's favorable/unfavorable rating).
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Republicans' current unpopularity is, in part, a hangover still from the Bush administration, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued Friday.
"I think people are still reacting to the previous administration," McConnell said during an appearance on CNBC. "They were not happy with it, and that's why they voted to make a change."
McConnell suggested that Republicans are willing to risk more electoral losses in 2010 by sticking to their principles in opposition to the administration.
"The 41 Republican members of the United States Senate represent 50 percent of the American population," he said. "We have not put our principles in escroe. We are going to proceed in this legislative process in a way that we think is best for the country, and the voters will make that decision in 2010."
The Senate GOP leader also defended his and other Republicans' opposition to many elements of President Obama's agenda, saying that the GOP wants to work with President Obama, but he has governed too far from the left.
"I don't think the voters sent us here to just rubber stamp every idea no matter how far to the left it might be," McConnell added. "We're looking for opportunities to cooperate with the president, but it's up to him."
Democrat Scott Murphy's campaign for New York's 20th District is up with a new ad Friday featuring Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), who previously held the seat.
Murphy is facing Republican Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R) in the March 31 special election.
A bipartisan group of senators are pressing colleagues not to use the special budget reconciliation process to make it easier to pass climate change legislation.
Seven Democrats and 21 Republicans have penned a letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), urging them not to attach bill limiting carbon emissions to a budget reconciliation measure, which needs only a simple majority in the Senate to pass.
The White House and top Democrats in Congress who back the cap-and-trade climate change bill haven't ruled out using the reconciliation process to push it through.
Republicans and centrist Democrats have said they're worried that emissions caps would lead to a rise in energy costs that would hurt consumers and companies in energy-producing states. Critics also said that using reconciliation to bypass the regular legislative process would make it tougher for the Obama administration to win bipartisan support in the future.
A baker's dozen House Republicans who are also medical doctors formed a new caucus Friday, joining together against the backdrop of an attempt at healthcare reform this year.
Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) cofounded the group of 13 Republican physicians, called the "GOP Doctors Caucus."
Greed, fearlessness, and bad government spurred the stock bubble that led to the most recent economic dire straits facing the U.S., National Economic Council Chairman Lawrence Summers asserted Friday.
"An abundance of greed and an absence of fear on Wall Street led some to make purchases -- not based on the real value of assets, but on the faith that there would be another who would pay more for those assets," Summers said Friday morning during an address at the Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank. "At the same time, the government turned a blind eye to these practices and their potential consequences for the economy as a whole."
"This is how a bubble is born," the former Treasury secretary added. "And in these moments, greed begets greed."
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