The Republican Party of Wisconsin’s effort to place “spoiler” candidates on the ballot to force Democratic primaries in the recall elections started with an off-hand comment at a Lacrosse County Republican event. It has quickly become the official policy of the state party. Top leaders now defend the practices, saying there’s nothing cynical about it, nothing wrong with it, and in fact that the recalls themselves are the cynical policy.

Saudi Arabia’s efforts to get OPEC to raise production has foundered on opposition, mostly from those on the other side of the fight for hegemony of the Middle East and the world, starting with Iran. The vote came down to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and UAE against Iran, Iraq (!), Libya, Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

How often do you have to be wrong until you are fired by the Obama Administration? For Treasury Secretary Geithner the answer seems to be a non-zero number approaching infinity.

Today Sarah Palin’s Communication Director fired back at Ed Rollins’ assertion that the ex-half Governor was not as qualified to run for president as Rep. Michele Bachmann. He said:

“Beltway political strategist Ed Rollins has a long, long track record of taking high profile jobs and promptly sticking his foot in his mouth,” said Sarah PAC chief of staff Michael Glassner in an emailed statement. “To no one’s surprise he has done it again, while also fueling a contrived narrative about the presidential race by the mainstream media. One would expect that his woodshed moment is coming and that a retraction will be issued soon.”

We have all kinds of problems (unemployment, foreclosure, not to mention two wars) that we seem unable to do anything about. What we can do in the United States Congress is engage in a months-long lobby bonanza between the largest retailers in the country and the largest banks in the country over how they will split up the fee for when you purchase products via debit card. And finally, that battle over swipe fees gets a vote today.

I still don’t think Rick Perry is going to run for president, but this certainly wouldn’t hurt his chances in today’s Christianist GOP.

Alec Baldwin is rumored to be eyeing Gracie Manor in a starring role as mayor of New York City in 2013 election. Congressman Anthony Weiner had been favored as the Democratic candidate to replace Michael Bloomberg, who will face term limits in in 2013. Sadly, multiple online philanderings may have shafted Weiner’s dreams. Baldwin, the star of NBC’s 30 Rock, has said he will retire from show business in 2012.

I particularly enjoyed the “Embargoed Until Delivery” part. Because, seriously, who could possibly contain themselves?

Bernanke knows that both parties are interested in or at least resigned to passing an austerity budget that will hit in the second half of the year, creating that self-defeating “sharp fiscal consolidation” in the near term. About the best he could do with a cover story is to blame slow growth in the first half of the year on the Japanese earthquake.

John Bryson is not the issue here. The stalled free trade deals are the issue. They remain an issue because the White House is insisting that the deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea include lapsed trade adjustment assistance for displaced workers, conditions Republicans thoroughly reject. John Bryson has been taken hostage as a byproduct to this dispute, and it happened months before he was nominated. His history with the NRDC or whatever else oppo researchers can dig up is irrelevant.