When I spoke with Jeff Merkley a couple weeks ago about Senate rules reform, he conceded that the Democratic caucus would have to arrive at a consensus set of rules before they would be able to hold together as a caucus and use the Constitutional option to change the rules by majority vote on January 5, the first day of the new Congress. That consensus has begun to take hold, and it comes in three parts, according to Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), who is leading the effort.

A lawyer in Nigeria has reminded the country’s anti-corruption watchdog that the recent deal buying Cheney’s freedom for $35 million is not legal.

During the recess for the elections, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid struck a deal where pro forma sessions prevented the President from making any recess appointments. It was assumed that would become the new normal, but such an accommodation was not made for the end of the session, enabling President Obama to make six recess appointments.

Remember how I suggested that Obama was establishing a practice of only making deals with people — whether they be Republicans or Democrats — who take hostages?

Well, Julian Assange just made it clear who his hostages are.

• TEAPARTY!!!1!!!
• But…but…it’s not in the Constitution!
• It’s a great time to be a bankster.
• The Charlie Wilson files.
• Just what we need: a larger Navy.
• Well, this sucks.

Iraqi goes from Hobbesian Nightmare to perpetual low-level civil war. And it’s the best we could do in the end. So you see, we’re winning after all.

Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker, performed by the Mariinsky Ballet (Kirov Ballet) in October 1993 at the Mariinsky Theater in St Petersburg. Starring Larisa Lezhnina as Clara, Viktor Baranov as the Prince, and featuring Irina Zhelonkina and Elvira Tarassova as the primary snowflake dancers.

Ryan Grim and Arthur Delaney do the nation another excellent service today by examining what the world would be like without Social Security. It isn’t too hard to imagine – you just have to dive back into the pre-1930s history books. And you will see the world of the poorhouse, the last refuge for the elderly and the infirm, the farms run by private charities which provided a dour and often cruel existence for those on the edges of society.

One of the simplest reforms would be for Congress to adopting the so called “Wyoming Rule,” written about by Matthew Søberg Shugart. Under this system the standard Representative-to-population ratio would be set by the least populated state – Wyoming. The result would be districts containing on average of 568,300 people instead of the 710,767.