This morning, we witnessed a remarkable moment in American history: a sitting President's policy castigated and condemned in person by members of a highly-respected bipartisan group -- including a former Supreme Court Justice, former Secretaries of State, and former Presidential Chiefs of Staff -- over military policy relating to one of the five or six major wars ever undertaken by this country. And to think, that group, the Iraq Study Group, was created by a tiny earmark inserted into a war supplemental bill by a rank-and-file Republican member of the House. As the New York Times put it:

The House Democratic caucus may have gotten our memo. Following a caucus meeting today, to-be-House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that when President Bush sends up his "emergency" supplementary war funding request (expected arrival: next February; pricetag: as much as $160 billion):

On Dec. 1, National Public Radio's Morning Edition ran a short segment by John Ydstie on the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), entitled "Democrats Promote Relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax." 3.5 million taxpayers had to file income tax returns under the AMT in 2006. Unless addressed by Congress, this number will increase to 23.4 million in 2007, as we have noted. The segment indicates that the average AMT filer must pay $3,000 more in taxes each year than under the regular system. Meanwhile, the 10-year cost of ATM repeal is estimated by CBPP to be around $1.2 trillion.

ThinkProgress notes that, as of Saturday, the current minimum wage has gone the longest without an increase since its inception in 1938.