MOE LANE: The President always wanted to re-evaluate the census process? Since when?

UPDATE: Some background on why this matters.

CHICAGO BLOGGERS THREATENED. More here:

Fix Wilson Yard, the grassroots community organization that claims to represent more than 2,000 Chicago residents, alleges numerous abuses on the city’s part in the creation, planning, implementation and funding of the Wilson Yard TIF District and the corresponding Wilson Yard development.

Subpoenas were filed last month seeking information on Web sites hosted by Buena Park Neighbors and the Uptown Neighborhood Council. The revelation comes on the heels of subpoenas served at Google, asking for ownership information about two anonymous blogs, Uptown Update and What the Helen.

According to copies of the subpoenas obtained by News-Star, Google and its hosting service, Blogger, are being asked to produce information “related to the identity of the person or persons who created and/or control ‘WhattheHelen.com’ and ‘Uptown Update’ blogs and websites (sic).”

Uptown Update is an active blog that has gained popularity as a clearinghouse for information about the Uptown neighborhood. What the Helen was active during the 2007 aldermanic election and has not been updated in more than a year. . . . The neighborhood organizations are being asked to produce all posts in “the form of a blog, chat room comment, website (sic) post or any other form that relates to the Wilson Yard development, Alderman [Helen] Shiller, or Uptown development.”

Expose Chicago politicians and their cronies, and they’ll try to expose you, I guess.

OOPS: Hope. Change. The rest of the world still hates us. Well, dang.

BITES FROM THE APPLE: A roundup of news from the Apple empire.

JAMES JOYNER: “They told me if I voted for McCain we wouldn’t see the end of big contracts going to Halliburton. And they were right!”

HEH: “But rental income on Charlie Rangel’s vacation dacha will still be tax-free.”

SOUNDS GOOD: Fight Big Gummint and Make Money While Doing It: Sam Adams Alliance Contest.

WIMP: “Sen. Judd Gregg yesterday declined all comment on reports that the White House will strip him of his authority over the federal Census Bureau even before he becomes Secretary of Commerce.”

MORE ON THOSE UNDERFUNDED/OVERGENEROUS PUBLIC PENSIONS in this big report from Forbes:

America, in case you hadn’t noticed, is dividing into two nations. The 22.5-million-strong public sector (that includes retirees) is growing ever larger, and enjoying ever greater wages and benefits often guaranteed by state constitutions.

In private-sector America your job, assuming you still have one, hangs on the fate of the economy. If your employer ever offered a pension for life, like young officer Goss is receiving, odds are it has stopped doing so, or soon will. Those retirement accounts you scrimped and saved to assemble? Unless they are invested in Treasurys, they aren’t doing too well. In private-sector America the math leads to the grim prospect of working longer and living poorer.

In public-sector America things just get better and better. The common presumption is that public servants forgo high wages in exchange for safe jobs and benefits. The reality is they get all three. State and local government workers get paid an average of $25.30 an hour, which is 33% higher than the private sector’s $19, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Throw in pensions and other benefits and the gap widens to 42%.

Read the whole thing.

WHICH IS MORE THAN NANCY PELOSI HAS DONE: Bank Chiefs to travel by public transport instead of private jet.

PALIN DERANGEMENT SYNDROME — IT’S NOT JUST FOR BLOGGERS ANYMORE! Judge in autism case injects insult to Sarah Palin. “Manhattan Federal Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald blasted the Alaska governor and former vice presidential candidate for bringing her Down syndrome child on stage after a debate. . . . The comments came during a settlement conference in a lawsuit filed by the feds on behalf of 11-year-old Aaron Schein. Aaron’s parents say the dog is medically necessary to help the boy cope with Asperger’s syndrome.”

How . . . judicious.

WHAT CAUSES personal bankruptcy. Not health care or job loss. “Over-consumption makes households financially over-stretched and more susceptible to adverse events.” In other words, spending too much and not having a reserve against emergencies.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Fannie Mae will loosen credit requirements for home mortgages.

PAKISTAN RELEASES A.Q. KHAN: Aziz Poonawalla is not happy.

GREG MANKIW ON the mature Keynesian perspective.

Plus, a surrealistic Keynesian perspective: Stimulate the economy by legalizing counterfeiting!

BREDESEN TO HHS? They’re saying no. But more here.

Meanwhile, a Bredesen backlash? People who are criticizing him for cuts in TennCare should think about where the state budget — currently $1 billion in the red — would be if he hadn’t.

WHO NEEDS GUMMY BEARS, when there’s Gummy Bacon? But, alas, there’s a catch.

Plus, not just Baconnaise, but, for the health-conscious, Baconnaise Lite!

DON’T BE EVIL: Google Accused Of Invisibly Deleting Blog Posts On The RIAA’s Say-So.

Maybe they’re just afraid of the Justice Department. More on this here.

SOME SUPREME COURT POLLING from Ann Althouse.

MEGAN MCARDLE: “We are not even close to the bottom of the job market, much less the return to the halcyon days of low single-digits.”

Meanwhile, I wonder if there’s a connection between the accelerating unemployment and the scary talk from the Obama camp. If I ran a business, I’d be scared.

JOE WURZELBACHER on the stimulus bill. 5 minutes video, free with no registration.

BACKLASH? Republican McDonnell leads all Dems for Virginia Governor. Hmm. Stay tuned.

OBAMA’S MISTAKE? “His serious and consequential policy mistake is that he put his prestige behind not a new way of breaking through but an old way of staying put. This marked a dreadful misreading of the moment. And now he’s digging in. His political mistake, which in retrospect we will see as huge, is that he remoralized the Republicans. He let them back in the game.” I believe that the “stimulus” — and, worse, the psychology it represents — will be dreadful for the country. I hope I’m wrong. So, I imagine, does Obama.

SURE, WHY NOT? Obama considering at least 2 Iraq withdrawal plans. I’m sure any decision will be as carefully thought out as the “stimulus” legislation.

HEH: “As I read Panetta’s comments, the Obama CIA’s use of coercive techniques wouldn’t be torture because we would never do that — no matter the circumstances. It also wouldn’t be ‘enhanced interrogation’ because that’s what Bush did. It would simply be ‘additional authority.'”