***REUTERS REPORTS OPTIMISM THAT THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY, WHILE SLOW, IS PROCEEDING: The latest data showed that US retail sales rose in August with the biggest gains in the last five months. Best Buy Co Inc. had a bigger quarterly profit than was expected, and they raised their outlook for the future. There were stronger-than-expected jobs and trade data that also helped lift optimism about the economic recovery.
***OLYMPIA SNOW (R-ME) SOUNDS OFF: In an interview yesterday moderate Senator Snowe warns about the “shrinking wing” of moderate Republicans. She argues that while “Congress isn’t working right,” that moderate Republicans “can’t be endangered” if the GOP is to be a national party.
***STATUS OF NEW START TREATY: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday passed out of committee the new START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia — and with bipartisan support. To ratify the treaty it will take two-thirds of the Senate to vote “yes.” That means that at least 8 Repubs will have to vote for it.
***LADY GAGA WEIGHS IN: Lady Gaga is now calling on her fans to call Senator Harry Reid and demand the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell. She released a new video today that calls on senators to repeal DADT. Senator Reid Tweeted, “anyone qualified to serve this country should be allowed to do so.”
***LOST DECADE FOR AMERICANS: Official data reveals that the Great Recession has come on the heels of a decade of stagnant wage growth for most Americans that is the worst in the last half century.
The downturn that some have dubbed the “Great Recession” has trimmed the typical household’s income significantly, new Census data show, following years of stagnant wage growth that made the past decade the worst for American families in at least half a century. Living standards have declined, sharply for some. Those living in poverty rose to 14.3% from 13.2% in 2008. 43.6 million were living below the poverty level, the highest number since 1994.
***JON STEWART AND STEVEN COLBERT ANNOUNCE THEIR OWN RALLIES AT THE MALL IN DC: Jon Stewart announced on The Daily Show that he would be organizing his own rally at the Lincoln Memorial. His rally (unlike Glenn Beck’s) will provide signs for supporters to carry. The signs will have the message, “I disagree with you, but I’m pretty sure you are not Hitler.” Stewart’s rally is to be called: “Rally to Restore Sanity.” Steven Colbert will call his rally, “March to Keep Fear Alive.”
We wish these rallies would actually happen, and not just in our chuckling imaginations.
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