The Most Powerful Woman in American History Will Be?

++Not Hillary Clinton and not Elizabeth Warren. Drumroll. Tomorrow, President Obama will nominate Janet Yellin as the Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve. Feathers in both their caps. Before the shutdown fight, Yellin had support from both sides of the aisle and would have been seen as shoe-in. Given the distemper of the GOP, it's unclear whether they will bring the nasty to the table. She had significant support among the GOP before the nomination on the strength that she was not Larry Summers. Since the United States is teetering on default, she will face perhaps the greatest challenge since Bernacke dealt with the global economic collapse. But, congratulations,she really deserved it. She has been a terrific member of the Fed and has expressed her concern about one of the pillars of that institution's mission--the creation of jobs. On the strength of her new position and the power it wields,she will be the most powerful woman in American history. 

++We left the Capital tonight with the House GOP still grousing and then voting to create a commission--now to negotiate raising the debt ceiling. Why don't they just establish a Central Committee and deliberate endlessly on ideology?

++The White House issued a call to the House to stop screwing around and pass an immigration act since the Senate passed one two months ago. Today, thousands gathered at the National Mall to rally for immigration reform. Unlike the tea baggers who charged the war monuments without reaction, six Democratic congressmen were arrested, including legendary civil rights leader John Lewis.

++Andrew Sullivan reflects my frustration tonight in his post expressing disgust with the diametrically opposed belief systems of the Democrats and the Republicans or better the clash between reality-base arguments and the fantasy world of the Republicans. He jokes that the GOP are acting as Saul Alinsky, while Obama is the true conservative. An unnecessary insult to Alinsky. But I share his sentiments about the level of the discussion or lack thereof in Washington.

++Boehner is quite cracked. In the morning, he cheers his caucus on saying they must put some points on the board after all this. By late afternoon, after President Obama put him down, he tells his team the Democrats are trying to annihilate us. 

++Just a reminder, there really are enough votes in Congress to pass a clean CR, and also enough votes to pass a clean debt ceiling.

++I've read at least two posts today that suggest President Obama will do something to direct the Treasury to issue treasury bonds to cover the government's debt, if Congress doesn't act. Josh Marshall's well-reasoned piece before President Obama's press conference argues why he won't. But Sean Wilentz's op-ed in the Times makes a compelling case why he should. We know that Prof. Tribe, Obama's former professor in constitutional law argues strongly against his actions but Dr. Posner at the University of Chicago is just as articulate why he must. Here, we are entering a zone where the Constitution is unclear. The pro-argument says that President Obama should declare an economic state of emergency since an artificial default would trigger a catastrophe or be similar to a nuclear explosion,according to Warren Buffett, and would require the President to step in to save the day. Right now, that seems to be the issue dwarfing the shutdown and the GOP is actually hardening their positions in a stance resembling a "coup".