Wonkette

Last night, while Mom was out of the house, the Senate popped it’s PAYGO cherry with the AMT patch bill. For those readers not intimately familiar with budget rules and tax wonk jargon, PAYGO is the system by which every tax reduction must be paid for by an increase somewhere else (or, lol, a spending cut) and AMT is the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT was meant to apply only to really rich people but because it was so poorly written it’s about to apply to 23 million people on April 15 and, you know, 2008 is an election year.

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* Heard on the Hill: Marsha Blackburn’s daughter wants to be something called the “Oyster Easter Queen.” … Jon Voight spotted outside the offices of Norm Coleman flossing… House Foreign Affairs Committee craigslist ad: fake! [Roll Call]
* Reliable Source: Barbara Harrison said “shit” on the tv the other night. [WP]
* Yeas and Nays: Max Baucus swung into action when a staffer became ill and, uh, helped call 911 and get water and stuff… Borat’s gonna be at WHCA dinner. [Examiner]
* Shenanigans: The Webb gun thing might affect DC voting rights or something… Al Franken needs your money. [Politico]

Wonkette Operative Holly Martins reports: MORE »

• Reliable Source: Attorney for Robert Steinbuch threatens to add Ana Marie Cox as a co-defendant in his suit against Jessica Cutler. . . Murdoch will host a summer fundraiser for Hillary. . . Mort Kondracke marries Marguerite Sallee, the CEO of America’s Promise. . . Bush twins are spotted buying vintage clothes. [WP]
• Heard on the Hill: Michael Scanlon will be awarded his diploma from John Hopkins. . . Josh Bolten went to a Nationals game with Bo Derek. . . Woman spotted with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) is confirmed to be his girlfriend. . . [Roll Call]
• Under the Dome: Fundraiser for Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) hosted by Mort Zuckerman features Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and former Sen. Al D’Amato (R-N.Y.). . . Wolf Blitzer, Chris Matthews, Petra Nemcova, and Rep. Tom McMillen (D-Md.) showed up for the opening of The Collection at Chevy Chase. . . “Campaign chair” for Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) caught using a government-issued American Express card at a strip club. [The Hill]

• Bush defends eavesdropping program but offers no details: “This is a different era, a different war.” [WP, WP, NYT, USAT, USAT]
• House approves $39.7b in cuts and drilling of ANWR; showdown expected in the Senate. Sen. Kerry: “Let’s be very clear about what’s happening here. Republicans — Senator Stevens in particular — are putting oil companies ahead of our troops.” [WP, WP, WP, NYT, USAT, LAT]
• Approval of Bush rebounds to 47% in WP-ABC poll: “His approval rating on Iraq jumped 10 percentage points since early November, to 46 percent, while his rating on the economy rose 11 points, to 47 percent. A clear majority, 56 percent, said they approve of the way Bush is handling the fight against terrorism.” [WP]
• Bush ” apparently decided that a passionate offense was his best defense”; his mood “was casual and crisp.” [WP]
• ACLU claims the FBI has wrongly monitored antiwar, environmental, and civil rights groups; FBI used secret informants to track PETA for years. [NYT, WP]
• Sen. Rockefeller penned hand-written note to Cheney about civil liberties concerns over eavesdropping. [WP]
• Force reductions expected in Iraq, Afghanistan. [WP, NYT]

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• Leahy, Baucus, Johnson will support Roberts; Kerry, Kennedy, Corzine, Boxer, Reid will vote no. [NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Bush multitasks over second Supreme Court nomination, hurricanes, Iraq, and Social Security; talks of Katrina and terrorists, “They’re the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We’re in a war against these people.” [NYT, USAT]
• Republicans propose spending cuts as Congress passes $6b in Katrina-related tax breaks. [WSJ, WP, USAT]
• Next Supreme Court nominee will face heightened scrutiny. [WP]
• House Republicans will pursue inquiry of government’s response to Katrina in spite of boycott by Democrats. [WP, NYT]

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