memeorandum: Jobless rate jumps to 7.6 percent, 598K jobs lost (Jeannine Aversa/Associated Press)

10:10 AM ET, February 6, 2009

Top Items:

On the Edge — A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to economic recovery. Over the last two weeks, what should have been a deadly serious debate about how to save an economy in desperate straits turned, instead, into hackneyed political theater, with Republicans spouting …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, CANNONFIRE, Commentary, Brilliant at Breakfast, Rising Hegemon, Daniel W. Drezner and Connecting.the.Dots

Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:

598,000 Jobs Lost as Jobless Rate Hit 7.6% in January — WASHINGTON — The country moved into its second year of uninterrupted job losses last month, with companies shedding another 598,000 jobs — the most since December 1974 — and the unemployment rate moving up to 7.6 percent, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Caucus, Economix and The Agonist

Chris Isidore / CNNMoney.com:

Job loss: Worst in 34 years — Employers slashed 598,000 more jobs in January as unemployment rate climbed to 7.6%. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Employers slashed another 598,000 jobs off of U.S. payrolls in January, taking the unemployment rate up to 7.6%, according to the latest government reading …

Discussion: Think Progress, Fox News and Washington Monthly

Jeannine Aversa / Associated Press:

Jobless rate jumps to 7.6 percent, 598K jobs lost — WASHINGTON - Recession-battered employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974, and catapulted the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. The grim figures were further proof that the nation's job climate …

Discussion: Donklephant

Washington Post:

Obama to Discuss Guantanamo With Victims of Terror Attacks, Their Relatives — President Obama will meet today with victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the USS Cole bombing and their families as his administration reviews how to handle detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Discussion: Fox News, Jules Crittenden and RedState

Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
“To Retain and Detain” — The president is scheduled to meet today …

Discussion: Wizbang

Lindsey Ellerson / Political Punch:
Military Commission Charges Dropped Against Terrorist Suspect Al-Nashiri

Discussion: Political Machine, The Caucus, Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers

Adam Levine / CNN: Charges dropped against suspect in USS Cole bombing

The Huffington Post:

Bush Jacketless In Oval Office: Photo Uncovered After Bush Chief Of Staff Slams Obama's Informal Appearance (SLIDESHOW) — One day after President Bush's former Chief of Staff Andrew Card blasted President Obama for breaking the Bush dress code, which reportedly required that a jacket be worn …

Discussion: The Swamp, pandagon.net, Political Machine, Anne Schroeder's Blogs, rubber hose, Swampland, democracyarsenal.org, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Emptywheel and The Caucus

The Politico:

At Dem retreat, a partisan love fest — WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A fired-up Barack Obama ditched his TelePrompter to rally House Democrats and rip Republican opponents of his recovery package Thursday night - at one point openly mocking the GOP for failing to follow through on promises of bipartisanship.

Discussion: MSNBC, Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Hill, Wake up America, The Foundry, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, MyDD, Agence France Presse, Outside The Beltway, Associated Press, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Obsidian Wings, Weekly Standard, Comments from Left Field and Gateway Pundit

CNN: Obama fires up House Dems to help push stimulus bill

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama to GOP: ‘Driving toward a cliff’

Discussion: MSNBC

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The Fierce Urgency of Pork — “A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe.” — Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared “we have chosen hope over fear.” Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.

Discussion: Commentary, The Corner, Brilliant at Breakfast and Soccer Dad

Washington Post:

Senate Moderates Negotiate Cuts to Economic Stimulus Bill — A large group of Senate moderates huddled in a Capitol Hill conference room today in an effort to cut tens of billions of dollars from an economic stimulus bill that now tops $900 billion, as wrangling continued over a package …

Discussion: National Journal Online, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Washington Monthly, Capitol Briefing, The Hill, MSNBC, Associated Press, The Note, On Deadline, Daily Kos and Financial Times

David Brooks / New York Times:
The Gang System — Barack Obama is a potentially transformational figure.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, marbury and Prairie Weather

David Rogers / The Politico:
Clock ticking on Senate stimulus deal

Discussion: Boston Globe, Blog entry, The BLT, Time, Taegan Goddard's …, Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake, Gothamist, TIME.com, The Huffington Post, Don Surber, MyDD, Sweetness & Light, USA Today, Streetsblog, Progress Illinois, the talking dog and Liberty Street

Greg Mankiw / Greg Mankiw's Blog:

My Preferred Fiscal Stimulus — Regular readers of this blog have a pretty good sense of my policy preferences. But for those occasional readers who might be stopping by, let me reiterate what I would do right now if I were the fiscal king. — I would institute an immediate …

Discussion: Capital Commerce and Weekly Standard

Reid Wilson / The Hill:

RNC shakeup as Steele asks for resignations — Top staffers at the Republican National Committee were told to submit their resignations today, with some being told they will not get their jobs back in what insiders call a top-to-bottom review of the entire organization.

Discussion: American Street

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Resignations at the RNC — A Republican source says newly …

Discussion: The Plum Line

Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:

Wanted: Personal Economic Trainers. Apply at Capitol. — As long as we're about to spend gazillions to stimulate the economy, I'd like to suggest we throw in another $53.5 million for a cause dear to all business journalists: economic literacy. And what better place to start than right here in Washington.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, The Foundry, Blog entry and Balloon Juice

Campbell Brown / CNN:

Campbell Brown: Congress clueless about retreats — Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's “Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull” at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the “Cutting through the Bull” segment of Thursday night's broadcast.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

Dramatic tapes of Hilda Solis-White House emergency radio chatter — In an amazing news coincidence, on the very same day as the US Air Flight 1549 emergency radio tapes were released, The Ticket has exclusively obtained the tapes of recent emergency radio conversations between ground traffic controllers …

Discussion: Moe Lane

John Cole / Balloon Juice:

You'll Never Get This 21 Minutes Of Your Life Back — Instapundit, Malkin, and Joe the Plumber discuss politics for PJTV. — There is so much to love about this, I don't know where to start, but certainly Joe the Plumber bemoaning the lack of spending cuts and general program cuts in the stimulus bill was a highlight.

Discussion: Democrats.com, INSTAPUTZ, Newshoggers.com and Jules Crittenden

Val Kilmer / Associated Press:

Val Kilmer ponders running for governor — Democrat actor known for roles as ‘Batman’ and ‘Iceman’ eyes 2010 race — SANTA FE, N.M. - Holy hornet's nest, Batman! The New Mexico governor's mansion? — Fresh from the inauguration, actor Val Kilmer is pondering running for governor in 2010 …

Discussion: Political Machine and Real Clear Politics

Paul Romer / Wall Street Journal:

Let's Start Brand New Banks — A clean slate would keep TARP money away from bad banks. — Everyone agrees that the United States urgently needs a few good banks. Turning bad banks into good banks is a difficult and risky way to get them. It's simpler and safer to start entirely new banks.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:

Obama to Name Economic Panel — Making good on a promise to name a diverse outside economic advisory panel, President Barack Obama Friday will appoint a slate of business, economic and labor leaders - from conservative economist Martin Feldstein to AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka …

Discussion: Capital Commerce

Christi Parsons / The Swamp:
Obama taps right, left for econ advice

Discussion: The Politico

Martin Fackler / New York Times:

Japan's Big-Works Stimulus Is Lesson — HAMADA, Japan — The Hamada Marine Bridge soars majestically over this small fishing harbor, so much larger than the squid boats anchored below that it seems out of place. — And it is not just the bridge. Two decades of generous public works spending …

Discussion: Riehl World View and Global Guerrillas

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Contra Stimulum — The president's WaPo op-ed has generated some reaction from stimulus skeptics. A round-up. Matt Welch: … Steve Verdon: … Ed Morrissey: … Wilkinson:

Discussion: Outside The Beltway

Sharon Lafraniere / New York Times:

Possible Link Between Dam and China Quake — BEIJING — Nearly nine months after a devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, left 80,000 people dead or missing, a growing number of American and Chinese scientists are suggesting that the calamity was triggered by a four-year-old reservoir built close …

Discussion: Right Wing News and James Fallows