Congress can come back any time and give me something to write about…

• Jennifer Senior’s New York magazine piece on the horrors of the US Senate is worth a read. Delving into that maddening body and the state of legislative action and you will surely despair as much as Mark Thoma, who pronounces that he’s “giving up on the policymakers.” He’s specifically talking about fiscal policy, but you could attach that to pretty much anything.

• By the way, if you think fiscal and monetary policy in the US has been bad, take a look at
the Eurozone, where they’ve had zero growth so far this year. Congratulations, austerity budgeters, you win.

• Maybe a return to consumer spending will pick up the job pace, but certainly stronger fiscal policy would accelerate that momentum. But anything beyond the incremental doesn’t look to be in the cards. I hope the politicians can explain that to the jobless.

• Massachusetts insurance companies react to the rejection of their rate increases by banning new coverage on the exchanges, in favor of selling policies outside of them. This reveals a major flaw in the health care reform both in Massachusetts and at the federal level – the ability for insurers to skirt the rules by offering off-exchange coverage. You also create a problem where some insurers become “too big to expel” from the exchanges.

• Newt Gingrich takes an early lead in the spouting complete bullshit race, otherwise known as the Republican 2012 nomination, with his claim about 16,000 armed IRS agents enforcing the individual mandate.

• Will the White House put together their own plan for Mideast peace? Even if they did, my guess is that both sides would accuse the US of not being an honest broker, and the talks would go nowhere.

• I don’t know if the idea that a policy which essentially frees every state from the threat of a US nuclear strike except Iran and North Korea is in fact a message to Iran and North Korea qualifies as “analysis,” but yes, that does seem to be the idea.

• The Democratic primary debate in Arkansas between Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter is set for later this month, on April 23.

• In Kyrgyzstan, protesters claim they’ve taken over the country. They apparently also beat the Interior Minister to death.

• Oh good, more big hurricanes on the way this year.

• Charlie Rangel will face a primary from the son of Adam Clayton Powell, who he beat in a primary in the 1970s to win the seat. Rangel already has another challenger, so this splits the anti-Rangel vote and probably helps his chances.

• Another example of how far the Obama Administration has to go to restore regulatory agencies ravaged by neglect: the FDA is a mess.

• The Administration’s low-income housing policies look to be solid. Good.

• Though California was exempted from President Obama’s new offshore drilling deal, we may see it here after all. This controversial deal between environmentalists and PXP, allowing short-term drilling for a firm end date to the platform outside of Santa Barbara, has been kicked around for years, but they may actually get there this time.

• Speaking of California, their public pension problem is not nearly the nightmare the New York Times makes it out to be.

• I can’t say anything about my neighbor Mickey Kaus’ quixotic Senate run that James Wolcott hasn’t already said in a much better way.

• And might as well wrap up with four California stories in a row – for your viewing pleasure. Witness, Megan Fox and the state education budget!