From Scrappleface:

House Republicans plan to introduce a conservative alternative to the Rangel alternative to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Never mind the polls; sometimes you just have to read the tea leaves.

The LA Times reported this week that the effort in California to change the way that state's electoral votes are distributed has collapsed because of a lack of money. Later reports indicated that there had been only one primary funder and the organization had been in turmoil.

This is a big deal.

Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) will announce tomorrow that he will not run for reelection.

 
The retirement of a senator from a small state who is a member of the minority party and isn't the ranking member of a committee isn't generally nationally important news. But Hagel:

My day job is managing director in a communications agency. That means I spend a great deal of time thinking about what someone should say, how they should say it, and what will actually be heard by those who hear it.

I also just as frequently wonder why someone hasn't said something.

This must be the political equivalent of The Perfect Storm for House and Senate Republicans.

According to the Associated Press, Senator Larry Craig's staff today is saying that he will resign. This is after the senator said yesterday that he might not. Meanwhile, reports from inside the senator GOP caucus indicate that Craig's colleagues are vbery split about how its leadership has handled the situation.

It is probably getting very ugly behind the scenes.