Geithner plan arithmetic  —  Leave on one side the question of whether the Geither plan is a good idea or not.  One thing is clearly false in the way it's being presented: administration officials keep saying that there's no subsidy involved, that investors would share in the downside.  That's just wrong.

I Was Followed, Harassed, And Ambushed By Bill O'Reilly's Producer  —  On March 1, ThinkProgress picked up on a story by News Hounds, which noted that Fox News host Bill O'Reilly — who has made controversial comments about rape victims in the past — was slated to speak at a March 19 fundraiser for the Alexa Foundation.

Tea Parties, Going Galt, Iraq, and Delicious Irony  —  I've been following the growing “Tea Party” and “Going Galt” movements with no small amount of amusement, in part because there is really just too much sweet, delicious irony surrounding both of these groups of people (who, I might add, are largely the same people).

Reviews are in: Geithner clears the bar  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  It was bound to happen sooner or later.  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner - who hasn't had many winning days in his short tenure on Pennsylvania Avenue - scored a big political victory Monday …

Michele Bachmann on D.C.: “I'm a Foreign Correspondent On Enemy Lines”  —  During a Saturday afternoon interview on WWTC 1280 AM with The Northern Alliance's John Hinderaker and Brian Ward, Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann discussed her staunch opposition to several Democratic-led efforts …

Canadian defense minister to Greg Gutfeld and Fox News: Apologize; Update: Gutfeld apologizes  —  In which a YouTube grassroots brushfire explodes into a full-blown international incident.  You make the call: Below you'll find the “Red Eye” segment that aired on March 17 followed by MacKay's demand for an apology this morning.

SECOND TIME'S A CHARM  —  As far as the market is concerned, anyway, Tim Geithner's second shot at laying out a plan to rescue the nation's banking system is being received a lot better than his first.  At this moment, the Dow is up over four percent.  —  You can read the Treasury Department's description of the plan here.

Obama writes letter to Chirac - blogosphere goes crazy  —  Want to know how quickly rumors get spread on the Internet?  Here's a prime example.  —  The right side of the web is apoplectic this morning claiming that President Obama doesn't know who the French president is.

JPMorgan Chase To Spend Millions on New Jets and Luxury Airport Hangar  —  Outraged Critics Decry the Proposal, Call For Bank To Abandon Plans  —  Embattled bank JPMorgan Chase, the recipient of $25 billion in TARP funds, is going ahead with a $138 million plan to buy two new luxury corporate jets and build …

Law Professor Who Advised Obama Says House AIG Bill May Be Unconstitutional  —  I just got off the phone with Harvard professor Laurence Tribe, who advised Obama during the campaign, and he says he's leaning towards seeing the new House bill to tax back all the AIG bonuses as unconstitutional.

EPA: Global Warming Threatens Public Health, Welfare  —  The Environmental Protection Agency sent a proposal to the White House on Friday finding that global warming is endangering the public's health and welfare, according to several sources, a move that could have far-reaching implications for the nation's economy and environment.

Dow jumps close to 400 points  —  Wall Street welcomes Obama administration plan to buy up close to $1 trillion in bad bank assets.  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks recharged a rally Monday after Treasury's plan to buy up billions in bad bank assets and a better-than-expected existing …

Man of the Hour  —  With Steve Kroft as Lead Correspondent, ‘60 Minutes’ Is Ticking Right Along  —  On the night of the Emmys last fall, when one of his stories was up for an award and his tuxedo-clad colleagues were leaving for the ceremony, Steve Kroft stayed at the office until 1 a.m. …

Federal judge postpones medical marijuana sentencing  —  A federal judge in Los Angeles this morning postponed the sentencing of a man who emerged as a key figure in the national debate over medical marijuana, saying he wanted additional information about a reported change in the Justice Department's policy regarding such prosecutions.

The 50-Vote Senate  —  Could an obscure Senate rule free Barack Obama from the filibuster and enable health-care reform?  —  It's hard to imagine another town in which the most divisive thing you could do would be called “reconciliation.”  But this is Washington.

Texas School Board Set to Vote on Challenge to Evolution  —  The Texas Board of Education will vote this week on a new science curriculum designed to challenge the guiding principle of evolution, a step that could influence what is taught in biology classes across the nation.

Dodd's Wife a Former Director of Bermuda-Based IPC Holdings, an AIG Controlled Company  —  No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG.

Schumer Comes Out For Gay Marriage (Updated)  —  At a private risotto dinner last night with gay leaders and elected officials at Gramercy Tavern last night, Sen. Chuck Schumer reversed himself on the issue of same-sex marriage, saying he not only now supports it but also backs a full reversal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

This court brought to you by...ACORN  —  An ACORN fund-raiser on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals?  —  I'm kidding, right?  —  Nope.  —  And a GOP Senator approves of this?  —  I'm kidding, right?

Charles Murray's Praise of Human Misery  —  I kind of scanned Charles Murray's recent big AEI speech expecting to read something interesting, since I'd seen quite a few conservatives offer it lavish praise.  As best I could tell, though, his argument is that the problem with a social democratic model …

Toxic-Asset Plan Lifts Stocks  —  Financials paced a broad market surge Monday after the government explained in greater detail its plan to use both private and public funds to take bad credit bets off of banks' hands.  —  At 3:00 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 401 points …

Levin: US and Russia should unite against Iran  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Missile defense will be at the center of a new set of security talks between Washington and Moscow and could become “a positive political tool” …

NY state senator indicted, accused of assault  —  NEW YORK - A freshman state senator sworn in to office despite allegations he slashed his girlfriend's face with broken glass in a jealous rage has been indicted on domestic assault charges, prosecutors said Monday.

Senator seeks to halt sales of ‘e-cigarettes’  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - A senator is asking the government to prevent the sale of so-called “electronic cigarettes” until more is known about them.  —  E-cigarettes are marketed …

IT'S THE PRICING, STUPID.  —  Here, in its simplest form, is what the administration seems to think (this comes from conversations I had with administration officials over the weekend).  It may be the case that these are mispriced assets rather than worthless assets.

Breaking up the Big Banks  —  My biggest concern about the PPIP approach to the banking system is that even if it works, what it does essentially is return us to the pre-crisis status quo—banks that are so large that they're too politically powerful to regulate effective and too systemically important to be allowed to fail.