If the left and right can find common ground on any of President-elect Barack Obama's major Cabinet picks so far, it's on Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner. Top political bloggers and political Insiders polled by National Journal this week are in closer agreement on Geithner than on three other high-profile picks: Hillary Rodham Clinton at State, Robert Gates at Defense and Eric Holder as attorney general.

-- Lost in Transition

From Lost in Transition

FAIL: Capitol Visitor Center Opens This Week: With great fanfare appropriate to its great cost overruns, members of Congress opened a new visitor center at the foot of the nation's capitol building. "What was conceived in the 1990s as a sensible $71 million celebration of democracy," opined Washington Post writer Dana Milbank, "turned into a half-billion-dollar [actually, $621 million, more than $1,000 per square foot] shrine to legislative excess," including an $85 million TV studio for senators. Which, of course, makes it a great example of how representative democracy actually works.

-- The Antiplanner

From The Antiplanner

Obama and international law: Ken Anderson has been working up a head of a steam about the incipient hypocrisy of Democrats who are quietly adopting Bush administration positions, or moderate variants thereof, after having spent eight years calling these very positions idiotic & criminal & similar things -- also known as the Orin postulate. I had thought Anderson premature in his outrage ... but now erstwhile Obama supporters have begun to worry about the same thing, with respect to a range of issues, including torture, international law, and the war in Iraq.

-- Eric Posner

From The Volokh Conspiracy

Oil hits a 4 year low: Just out of curiosity... why• I thought those evil oil companies could control the price of oil and gasoline. Maybe we should bail these guys out too.

-- Steve Verdon

From Outside the Beltway

Water for the homeless: Bottled water is often a lifesaver in times of natural disaster or when communities have problems with tap water. It also has applications for helping the poor. This winter, it is being used by charities that are compiling backpacks filled with items to help homeless individuals survive the winter. It is also an important aid during summer months. Will the greens call this use wasteful• Hopefully not!

-- Angela Logomasini

From OpenMarket.org

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