ISAIAH J. POOLE Wall Street Whores The bipartisan courtship rituals between big politics and big money in Washington are bad enough, but Republican leaders in Congress are in the process of taking the process to a new low by openly declaring themselves for sale to Wall Street’s money men. DAVE JOHNSON Quid Pro Quo: Collecting Wall Street Money For Blocking Financial Reform This is something people should know about. Every effort to reform financial regulations is blocked by Senate filibusters. Maybe now we know why. BILL SCHER Spending Freeze Threatens Goal Of Clean Energy Economy The White House is trying to show it can still invest in its top priorities while also instituting a freeze on the overall level of non-defense discretionary spending. SAM PIZZIGATI Not Soak the Rich, Just a Little Sprinkle President Obama's new federal budget plan won't end plutocracy in America. But this second Obama budget, if adopted, might actually inconvenience it. NATASHA CHART Where Deficits Are Going To Come From Next Dave Johnson wrote earlier about the Republican origins of our current deficits, but the next wave of deficits will probably come from the next wave of option ARM mortgage defaults TERRANCE HEATH Colorado Springs: Conservatism's Shining City If you've ever wondered where conservative economic policies like permanent tax cuts for the wealthy, slashed social services and government spending are supposed to lead us, look no further than Colorado Springs. David Sirota's description of what's happening to that conservative stronghold should serve as a cautionary tale. more from our bloggers >>

W. Post reports some Senators exploring changes to filibuster rules: "... nascent efforts to curb the use of filibuster face resistance from Senate elders with long memories ... Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has not scheduled any debate on the issue."

Tapped's Scott Lemieux reminds it's more than just the filibuster: "Until Senate Democrats realize that the Republican minority is simply no longer willing to adhere to norms that allowed the institution to function despite its stupid rules, basic governance will be enormously difficult ... they need to do what they can to move the Senate toward majority rule."

NYT's Paul Krugman notes parliamentary gridlock is what sinks great nations: " In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Polish legislature, the Sejm, operated on the unanimity principle: any member could nullify legislation by shouting “I do not allow!” This made the nation largely ungovernable, and neighboring regimes began hacking off pieces of its territory. By 1795 Poland had disappeared ... Today, the U.S. Senate seems determined to make the Sejm look good by comparison."

Slate's Jacob Weisberg doesn't blame the Senate, but the "childish, ignorant American public": "[T]he American public lives in Candyland, where government can tackle the big problems and get out of the way at the same time ... To change this story line, we need to stop blaming the rascals we elect to office and start looking to ourselves."

Matt Yglesias thinks Wiesberg missed the point -- Americans know what they want, and will tell you, if you ask them: "People like conditions in the country to be good, and they get upset when conditions are not good. Effective politicians deliver good outcomes, and effective political institutions create incentives for those with power to do their best to deliver good outcomes. Right now, the outcomes being delivered by the Obama administration are not that good. But the nature of our political institutions is that these outcomes don't represent the Obama administration's best effort to deliver good outcomes. Instead, you get a weird mishmash of administration ideas, opposition obstructionism, 'centrist' preening, liberal whining, etc., etc., etc."

Bipartisan Health Care Meet. Calling Their Bluff?

Obama announces Feb. 25 bipartisan health care summit on CBS, reiterates importance to fiscal soundness: "The biggest thing, the most important thing that we can do on deficits ... is to get a health reform package passed."

Time's Kate Pickert believes we are seeing "Obama's final health care push.": "Obama is betting that he will be able to persuasively debunk Republican ideas for health care reform. He's also betting that if the American people understand what's in Democratic proposals, many of those who oppose the legislation will decide to support it."

Ezra Klein lays out WH thinking: "...there's enormous anxiety over the public's belief that the bill is thick with noxious deals ... if the bill was so good, why wouldn't they let C-SPAN into the negotiations? The White House hopes this summit will be a clean break with that narrative ... Second ... this creates a next step for health-care reform ... by setting this summit, he's bought [congressional leaders] a few weeks to figure out how to hold a vote themselves."

Some nervousness among congressional Dems. NYT: "some Congressional staff members expressed concern that Mr. Obama’s meeting would simply prolong an already tortuous process."

WH brushes off GOP calls to completely scrap pending bills LAT: "...a White House official said, 'The Republicans are going to interpret this as we're starting over. We're not starting over. We're coming in with our plan. They're welcome to come in with whatever plan they'd like. But we're moving forward.'"

The Treatment's Jonathan Cohn sees the WH calling the GOP's bluff: "...Republicans have been complaining that Democrats locked them out of the process. And large swaths of the public seem to agree, even though the argument seems plainly untrue ... The public forum will give the GOP one more, high-profile opportunity to air their views--and, no less important, it will give the public a chance to see which approach to health care they really prefer."

HuffPost's Robert Kuttner is deeply skeptical: "... Obama seems wedded to the illusion that Republicans are actually interested in reasoning together -- as opposed to doing whatever they can to crush him. ... It may be ... this is all a cleverly designed plan to ... smoke out their petty obstructionism for all to see, and then lead as a tough partisan ... If this works, I will be the first to cheer. But I can't imagine this summit producing a breakthrough, either of legislative compromise or of effective shaming."

W. Post's E.J. Dionne reports there's a new House Dem rallying cry, "Finish The Kitchen": "Democrats can finish the kitchen. Or they can face the wrath of voters who will wonder why the contractors they sent to Washington left all the wires hanging and the plumbing disconnected and useless."

Snowstorm Buys Dems Time On Jobs Bill

Politico reports Senate jobs bill talks have not produced a bill yet: "Senate votes scheduled for Monday evening have been pushed back to Tuesday on account of the storm, but it seems unlikely that Democrats would have been ready to proceed Monday ... there was no agreement on a bill late Sunday afternoon ... Baucus and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the panel, have spent almost two weeks negotiating the relatively limited package of small-business aid, unemployment benefits and corporate tax credits ... lawmakers were tangling over how to pay for the legislation ... Republicans oppose using unspent [TARP] funds..."

Rep. Earl Blumenauer calls for more transit investment to create green jobs, in Politico oped: "While highway and transit investments account for just 4 percent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, they have been responsible for 25 percent of the jobs created or saved. In fact, investments in public transportation created twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways."

Raleigh News & Observer chronicles the plight of long-term jobless as federal unemployment insurance will expire without a new extension: "The long-term jobless are blue- and white-collar workers. They come from all age groups, income levels and ethnicities ... That so many different people have been unable to find work for so long makes this recession unlike any other in decades. Such widespread long-term joblessness is slowing economic recovery. Personal income is down. Bankruptcies and foreclosures are up. But it will be years before the full extent of the damage is known."

Schools facing budget crisis and stimulus funds run out. NYT: "With state and local tax revenues still in decline, the end of the federal money will leave big holes in education budgets from Massachusetts and Florida to California and Washington..."

Jon Taplin, at TPMCafe, suggests Tea Party-fueled anger can be solved with jobs: "Unless we start reimagining America After Empire — a country where the serious work of rebuilding a broken infrastructure can be funded from the reductions in a cold war based military budget — the potential of a more violent right wing movement will exist."