It’s hard to imagine how the United States could heap more abuse on Pakistan. We are approaching the one year anniversary since Jeremy Scahill disclosed the extensive JSOC-Blackwater secret war effort within Pakistan and yet there is no indication that either Barack Obama or David Petraeus sees a need to shut down the rogue operators there. Despite the occasional attempt to portray the US military as providing crucial relief efforts in the massive floods in Pakistan (such as in the accompanying photo), the reality is that US military relief to Pakistan has been derided as but a tiny fraction of the military relief provided in other recent world catastrophes. Last week’s sentencing of Aafia Siddiqui to eighty-six years in jail provoked massive protests across Pakistan. And now we are learning that NATO (which really means US) helicopters have killed over 50 people in air raids on the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan over the weekend.

In case anyone had doubts that Rahm is being nudged out of the White House, Obama just erased them.

Rivlin has waited for much of her professional life for this moment to cut Social Security benefits. Imagine if that was your life’s goal. You’d want to do or say anything to reach an agreement, too.

Voters are effectively split dead even on which party in Congress would be better able to create jobs. Among likely voters, 44 percent think Congressional Republicans would do a better job, while 45 percent think Congressional Democrats would. Trailing in the generic ballot and dead even when it comes to the dominant issue with voters is a recipe for serious Democratic losses this November.

The race is on to unload responsibility for the extremely unpopular health care bill. And Axelrod wants to make sure he doesn’t get the blame.

Welcome to your Hoyer era in Democratic politics, should it come to pass. It will feature pathetic, knee-jerk cutting off of the legs of any remotely liberal-sounding policy. It will feature a rhetorical agenda designed to please Fox News. It will feature the kind of “liberals” America hates, because they sense they have no principles or values.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry essentially de-certifying 410 Anbar Awakening fighters whom the U.S. turned into police officers. The Awakening vets never graduated from any police academy, and that’s all the pretext the ministry evidently needs.

“A new AP poll finds that Americans who think the law should have done more outnumber those who think the government should stay out of health care by 2-to-1.”

It seems the Administration has declared today “Power Grab Monday.”

• Gosh, it’s lucky the Democrats are running things.
• Clinton calls Democratic base “wimps.“
• Can tax cuts fix our crumbling infrastructure?
• Your Monday Krugman.
• California trending to normal?
• Slogans, yep. Actual solutions? Meh.