1. If you are on the left, or just  very pleased with yourself, you believe the New York Times is the paper of record. This Times story (hat tip: Greg Collins) argues that the recession greatly REDUCED income inequality in America. The top 1% saw their share of national income drop by 6%. 2. It looks like sanctions directed at Iran's Central Bank  will come out of Conference Committee in a form that Obama can live with.  The takeaway from this is that members of Congress , concerned about Iran's nuclear program, acted on their own to push forward with this.  The Obama administration fought them every step of the way, including in the Conference where Obama had a few puppets from his side of the aisle (e.g. Carl Levin)  do his bidding and weaken the bill.   The Obama team did not want to do anything on this issue. It will only be a matter of days until Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the DNC, and a local Chicago blogger will claim that Obama got...(Read Full Post)