First, some politicos call Kerrey a serial floater. They refer to his frequent Hamlet routine, in which he contemplates but ultimately declines to run for various offices: in 2000 for president, in 2005 for New York City mayor, and in 2008 for the last open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska.

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Here's the first sentence:

Rival Democratic and Republican jobs bills failed in the Senate on Thursday, the latest sign of the partisan gridlock gripping Washington as Americans look for relief from high unemployment and a sagging economy.

"Partisan gridlock" is to blame for the failure of "jobs bills" from each party.

Which partisans, exactly?

Senate Democrats on Thursday came up nine votes short of the 60 needed to advance their infrastructure bill past a key procedural hurdle. The vote was 51-49, with all Republicans and two members of the Democratic caucus — Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) — voting no.

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"I'll sit down with my family to discuss the future," Nelson said Tuesday during a telephone interview. "They are my sounding board. I value what they say."

Nelson said he will weigh his family's views along with a personal judgment on "whether I believe I have a role to play in dealing with a very divided Congress in a very divided country, whether I could be constructive in finding some solutions, whether I am convinced I can be a positive force for the following six years."

Senator Nelson, you have never been a "positive force" during your time in office thus far, and it seems unlikely that you will become one at any point in the next six years.

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The news was not good. For those who believe that the Senate is unable to function properly under current rules and practices, however, neither the very minor change in precedent nor Reid’s Op-Ed -- which blamed Republicans for abuse but didn’t even hint at doing anything further about it -- were very encouraging. Indeed, for anyone who wants to retain the Senate’s old traditions and advantages, the time to reform Senate rules is as soon as possible -- because otherwise the Senate is most likely going to wind up as a second House of Representatives.

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The upshot is that the $447 billion package that Obama rolled out in a speech to Congress in early September (and which Senate Democrats modified recently to include a 5.6 percent tax increase on millionaires) is now dead. But the White House and its allies are pushing hard to frame last night's vote as something of a victory anyway, because Majority Leader Harry Reid was able to convince 51 of his fellow Democrats to vote to proceed to debate, allowing Obama to say that:

Tonight, a majority of United States Senators voted to advance the American Jobs Act. But even though this bill contains the kind of proposals Republicans have supported in the past, their party obstructed the Senate from moving forward on this jobs bill.

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Per Politico:

More than 100 protesters shouted “We are the 99 percent” and “Tax the rich, end the war” starting around 11:30 a.m. inside the Hart Senate Office Building. They waved banners that read “End the War” and “Cure Electile Dysfunction.” Senate staffers were warned by Capitol Police to avoid the building’s atrium

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It failed, of course, with a majority of the vote. Fifty-three voted to proceed with the bill, and 33 senators voted no. The $6.9 billion in funding was attached to a non-controversial bill renewing sanctions on the government of Burma. Only one senator bothered to argue against the bill before a small minority quietly blocked it.

“Has anybody given any serious thought to that? “asked Sessions. “Seven billion dollars? The state of Alabama’s general budget is $2 billion. Seven billion is a lot of money. We have not looked at it, we have not thought about it.”

“I strongly oppose adding another debt spending bill that we haven’t carefully examined every penny of it to make sure it’s all necessary and appropriate,” Sessions continued.

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David Vitter is not happy! He is so unhappy he immediately emailed his supporters to whine and carry on about the grave injustice of David Vitter having to go vote on stuff instead of watching a football game, at a party.

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George Allen, the former senator from Virginia notable primarily for being as casually racist as a senator from Virginia twice his age, is running for Senate again. Erickson initially opposed Allen, preferring a more Tea Partyish challenger named Jamie Radtke. Then he stopped mentioning the Radtke campaign, and then he didn't invite Radtke to his "RedState convention." He explained why in an email:

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The debt deal is bad economics, dishonest government, and surrender to blackmail. The alternative is not default, but government under the Constitution.

On the economics: by slowly choking off public services, public investment and regulation, the deal sets the economy on a path to strangulation. Every dollar cut from the budget, now or later, is a dollar less of private income. Less private income means less consumption, less private business investment, fewer jobs. Tax revenues will fall, and the deficits and debt will in the end not be reduced. The so-called “cloud of debt” will not lift. Contrary to the foolish claim made by the White House today, there is no magic by which “lifting a cloud of uncertainty” produces growth. There is no confidence fairy.

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A new report from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) looks at the pervasiveness of former lobbyists now working in congressional staff positions. The number of former lobbyists in Congress has more than doubled between the last Congress and the current one, with a significant partisan skew. In the current 112th Congress, 79 former lobbyists work for Republicans while 48 for Democrats; during the Democratic-led 111th Congress (which ran from 2009-2010), 33 worked for Democrats, while 27 worked for Republicans.

The report, titled "From Hired Guns to Hired Hands: 'Reverse Revolvers' in the 111th and 112th Congresses," is available in full here and has a number of noteworthy takeaways:

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced the scheduling change Thursday, a day after President Barack Obama prodded lawmakers to act swiftly to extend the government's ability to borrow money. The Senate had been scheduled to take a week's break but instead will meet beginning Tuesday.

"We'll do that because we have work to do," Reid said on the Senate floor.

The House had already been scheduled to work next week.

Obama had insisted there is no more time to add. And he beseeched and badgered lawmakers to complete a deal to cut long-term deficits and lift the nation's debt ceiling before Aug. 2 to avoid what his administration says would be a calamitous government default.

"There's no point in putting it off," he said Wednesday. "We've got to get this done."

But neither Obama nor the divided Congress is making it easier. The White House has identified at least $1.3 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years and is proposing up to $400 billion in new tax revenue. Republicans want more spending cuts and no tax increases.

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Last December the bill failed in the Senate 55-41 (in what was its fifth roll out) and since the Republicans are now in the majority, the bill has no greater prospects this time round. However, its defenders are hoping an argument from economics might do the trick. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in Tuesday testimony, "this is an investment not an expense."

According to Politico, "Duncan said the law would rescue the federal deficit by $1.4 billion in the next decade by making it possible for more illegal immigrants to stay in the country and pay taxes."

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The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development spend $320 million per month on aid efforts in areas that have been cleared of Taliban forces, but according to the report, "Afghanistan could suffer a severe economic depression when foreign troops leave in 2014 unless the proper planning begins now."

The crux of the report is that the highly expensive aid program funds short-term stabilization, which has limited success when it comes to long term development in the country.

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We put that question and others to Dr. Jonathan Bernstein, a political scientist and author of "A Plain Blog About Politics":

First, could you explain for the lay person a little bit about how the confirmation process actually works, and how it's tripped up appointees? Why is it that so many positions continue to lay vacant?

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In an op-ed piece first published on The New York Times website on Sunday and in its print edition on Monday, Diamond seemed frustrated by the confirmation process, detailing how President Barack Obama had nominated and re-nominated him to fill a vacancy on the seven-member board.

The Fed often operates with vacancies on its board. The board hasn't had every seat filled since 2006.

Diamond's initial nomination fizzled when the Senate adjourned in December without acting on it. When Obama resubmitted the nomination in January to the newly convened Senate, the Republicans held six additional seats, which was expected to make the confirmation process more difficult.

Senate Republicans blocked a floor vote on Diamond's confirmation and have questioned his practical experience and research. Diamond is considered an authority on Social Security, pensions and taxation. He shared the Nobel Prize in economics that was awarded in October, with Diamond saying that his portion of the prize was for his work on unemployment and the labor market.

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Paul is mostly good on civil liberties -- he was one of the few senators to oppose the extension of the Patriot Act -- but he is also kind of dumb, and he often makes dumb arguments, especially when speaking extemporaneously. And that is how, on Sean Hannity's radio show last Friday, Rand Paul announced his support for the deportation of Tea Partiers:

The transcript (emphasis ThinkProgress's):

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