Big media coverage here, here, here and here. Bloggy reax here, here, here and here. FDL’s live blogging here and here. What did you think of the speech? For my money, it was too kumbaya and not enough brass tacks, but that’s what I usually think about Obama’s speeches. I did like this, though. So [...]

As always, American Discourse, is a source of wonder…and embarrassment.

New videos from The Devil Makes Three and Laura Marling.

I kind of liked the SOTU. Obama gives a better speech than the last guy who had this gig. As for the Liberal Goodies, the student loan proposal really would be a radical improvement over the current shite state of affairs as far as paying for higher education goes; getting serious about deep-sixing Don’t Ask [...]

Having taken a peek at the copy, it looks like Bob McDonnell’s main focus will be on unemployment which, as we all know, is caused by taxes, regulation, lawsuits, deficits, environmentalism, and government. McDonnell will also speak fondly of: The GOP’s love for bipartisan cooperation; improving health care by making it harder to sue incompetent [...]

Obama on health care will say: “Do not walk away from reform.”

He needs to pay attention to some of his final words… “I don’t quit.” So don’t.

Fed Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke’s cloture vote will take place tomorrow, the day after the State of the Union. We may hear a 10 second news blip about him clearing a “key procedural hurdle,” and then the gas-bags will go back to analyzing the President’s body language and the First Lady’s taste in fashion.

And on Monday, Ben Bernanke will continue studiously ignoring the increasing unemployment rate while ensuring the Wall Street “Masters of the Universe” remain insulated from their disastrous decision-making.

More than sixty nations will gather in London tomorrow for an important series of talks on the future of Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrystal, who heads US forces in Afghanistan, sat for an extended interview with the Financial Times in advance of the conference. His comments, when taken in total, amount to an admission that US strategy in Afghanistan has failed and yet he insists that we must re-commit to this same failed strategy.

The spending freeze that President Obama will endorse tonight at the State of the Union address did not preclude, advisors were quick to point out, another jobs bill to increase demand in the struggling economy. The House has already passed their version of a jobs bill, with a price tag of $154 billion, and including transportation infrastructure spending, aid for state and local governments, and social safety net expansion for unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies to help the jobless pay for health insurance.

The Senate did not take up the bill last year, and have been working on legislation over the holiday break. We’re starting to see the outlines of it, and it’s underwhelming.

Like the rest of Wall Street, WellPoint – one of the nation’s largest insurers, with 14 state Blue Cross brands in its portfolio – is having a banner year.

Today, WellPoint announced that profits jumped 727%. In the middle of the biggest recession in generations, WellPoint is raking in the cash hand-over-fist.

Why the jump? Turns out, last year WellPoint spent even less on actual health care than it did in 2008.