Surprise — a tiny rise in support for the health-care reform law comes from Republicans. Maybe they realize the law won’t do too much, anyway. In the meantime, other concerns may dwarf the law as November issues at the voting booth.

I’ve been telling you about the critical concessions in the last days of the FinReg conference committee. Let’s step back a second. This bill won’t end too big to fail. It won’t protect the country to enough of a degree in the event of the next crisis. But it could do some positive things that would head in that direction. It could balance the relationship between the country and the oligopoly of giant, unaccountable banks. It could give consumers a fighting chance to protect themselves from getting screwed repeatedly. And as a financial reform bill, it’s a pretty solid anti-predatory lending bill. Heck, I’d cleave those pieces off, support it as a standalone, and hail a good progressive victory.

The running joke about Obama defenders says that whenever Obama makes one his horrendous moves or continues yet another terrible policy started under George W. Bush, the defenders will claim that he is a master tactician, working many moves ahead of us, sometimes even in dimensions we can’t possibly perceive. With today’s decision by Obama to accept the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal and to ask General David Petraeus to step down one level to assume command of US forces in Afghanistan, Obama has made what I think finally is a good strategic decision on the political front.

The ship captain found dead of a gunshot wound on his boat in Alabama this morning likely committed suicide.

In a statement, Lincoln’s spokeswoman said she wanted to make sure “no Arkansas bank—no matter its owner—is punished”. Why does raising capital requirements constitute punishment? Aren’t Arkansas families punished when leverage goes up and risk enters the system and banks fail, rippling through the economy and causing the kind of deep recession we saw in the 2008 period? Lincoln’s claim that she just wants to protect local banks that didn’t destroy the economy – ridiculous on its face, because the market for riskier securities could easily flow down to banks with looser regulatory requirements – doesn’t match her actions.

In the absence of any evidence of overwhelmingly bad lawyering by the Government’s attorneys, you have to wonder how any competent court could conclude that there isn’t a compelling case for stopping all offshore drilling. This is as close to a no-brainer as you get.

Now if only we could see the same respect for America’s democratic institutions elsewhere in the Obama Administration.

Information is the key to unlock a door. Too often political leaders hide behind complexity to justify their activities. They don’t expect their audiences to understand procedural nuances or wonkish details. They thrive on the public’s boredom. This is the space than an FDL can fill. And it’s been great to provide those keys to this community every now and again, so they can unlock doors and challenge power.

Will the Bushes please just go away?

President Barack Obama has relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal from his command of forces in Afghanistan and tapped Gen. David Petraeus to replace him.