Last weekend before the elections and I have a busy schedule of matters political and non-political. So don’t expect a ton of output from me this weekend. Next weekend, incidentally, I’m appearing on a panel at the Netroots California event happening in San Francisco, and I believe tickets are still available at this link, so if you’re in the area, stop by and say hello.

And here’s my attempt at GOTV: You can find your polling place simply by typing in your address here. And Can My Boss Do That is an online resource spelling out your rights as a worker to take time off to vote, state by state.

• Matthew Goldstein frames this exactly right: we need a Marshall Plan for America’s homes. Nothing less than full force will do. There’s a lot here, and I don’t agree with all of it, and Goldstein is pretty dismissive of the rule of law, but I’m in favor of the sentiment, that we need something big to get this resolved. And that doesn’t equal a Spanish-style debt peonage solution.

• The Calculated Risk graphs on GDP look like the aftermath of bungee jumping to me. We used a long cord for this recession, and we’re still not back up to the platform.

• After banning shipments of rare earth minerals to the United States, China reversed their course and resume shipments. Hard to know just how to understand this move, as Yves says. The President may bring this up with the Chinese President when they meet in a couple weeks.

• There’s no question that Congress will be less likely to write rules on net neutrality after next week, but that shouldn’t mean much of anything. If the FCC did their job and reclassified broadband, they could set any regulation they want. Julius Genachowski did a whole op-ed in WaPo today about stronger and faster wireless networks, and the authority for him to advance that is the same authority that would allow him to advance net neutrality.

• Corporations are swimming in cash. They must love this jobs crisis – it keeps wages down.

• According to Robert Gibbs, the President wants to see filibuster reform no matter which party takes control of the Senate. That’s an expansive reform view, but one I have to say I agree with. Let accountability reign in Washington. Give lawmakers the ability to enact an agenda and let the people decide if they support it.

• The world looks at the tea party and it confirms every stereotype they already believed about America.

• In addition to everything else, the foreclosure crisis includes just basic stealing from people. In addition to servicers tacking on fees from nowhere, you have the foreclosure mills routinely overcharging the servicers, processing multiple fees on the same property and making up borrowers and foreclosure operations to tee up more billable hours. It’s just plain theft.

• Speaking of which, Verizon settles with the FCC over charging random fees to its customers.

• For the first time in a decade, we know how much the US spent on intelligence last year. $80 billion dollars.

• President Obama visits Charlottesville for Tom Perriello tonight. Keep in mind this is a guy who said Tim Geithner and Larry Summers should be fired.

• The next phase of the voter suppression 2010 extravangaza: blame it on Mexicans coming over the border to vote! In a more mundane example from Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett basically called for voter suppression personally today.

• Sharron Angle says she’ll only answer questions from the press when she’s a Senator, but is something stirring in Nevada that could stop that from happening?

• Six Things Obama Has Done Wrong – consider the source. I generally agree with these six, but HAMP is the big thing missing here.

• This Laurence Tribe letter is disturbing on a number of levels.

• A long time ago in San Francisco I worked on a Board of Supervisor’s race that ended up defeating Michael Yaki. I’m glad he’s where he is today, stopping the US Civil Rights Commission from having a quorum to present their bogus New Black Panther Party report based on unsourced nonsense.

• Shots fired at the Korean border.

• My money would be on Schumer to run the Senate Democrats if Reid loses.

• The idiot school board member who did the long anti-gay rant on Facebook will resign.

• Henry Farrell does the definitive takedown of the truly silly Megan McArdle.

• Could this be for real? Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich liked to talk about their affairs?

• Lauren Valle of MoveOn responds to the man who stomped on her head.

• My obsession with the spectacle of Silvio Berlusconi continues.