Via the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire:

The top congressional leaders from both parties gathered at the White House for a working discussion over the shape and size of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The meeting was designed to promote bipartisanship.

But Obama showed that in an ideological debate, he’s not averse to using a jab.

Challenged by one Republican senator over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: “I won.”

The statement was prompted by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona , who challenged the president and the Democratic leaders over the balance between the package’s spending and tax cuts, bringing up the traditional Republican notion that a tax credit for people who do not earn enough to pay income taxes is not a tax cut but a government check.

Obama noted that such workers pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, property taxes and sales taxes. The issue was widely debated during the presidential campaign, when Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, challenged Obama’s tax plan as “welfare.”

With those two words — “I won” — the Democratic president let the Republicans know that debate has been put to rest Nov. 4.

Sean Hyde-Moyer presents this overload of geeky political humor. A sample:

US Democracy Server: Patch Day

Version 44.0
President

* Leadership: Will now scale properly to national crises. Intelligence was not being properly applied.
* A bug has been fixed that allowed the President to ignore the effects of debuffs applied by the Legislative classes.
* Drain Treasury: There appears to be a bug that allowed loot to be transferred from the treasury to anyone on the President’s friends list, or in the President’s party. We are investigating.
* Messages to and from the President will now be correctly saved to the chat log.
* Messages originating from the President were being misclassified as originating from The American People.
* A rendering error that frequently caused the President to appear wrapped in the American Flag texture has been addressed.

My sister, who’s a doctor of public health, offers this unique weight-loss strategy:

I was at a meeting yesterday discussing weight loss strategies and one gal has a friend who weighs herself everyday. Each day that she is over her self-decided “max weight” she puts $10 in an envelope and mails it to the GOP (cash of course, because with a check they have her name).

“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.”

“A nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.”

“We will restore science to its rightful place.”

“We know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.”

It’s just past noon, but it’s morning in America.

Inaugurate The “Muslim Foreigner” Already! Do we really have to wait until noon?

Aw, shucks.

Through the convenience of 8tracks.com, Bray New World is pleased to present this mix, “The Revolution Starts Now”:

Seventeen songs of left-wingy Bush-era goodness. Warning: lyrics NSFW, because thinking about Bush could make a nun want to curse.

If you’d rather enjoy it in its own window, rather than embedded in this one, you can go straight to the mix page.

Furthering our “looking back while our gorge rises” theme, here’s Keith Olbermann’s summary of the Bush years in 8 concise minutes:

Letterman presents the final installment of “Great Moments in Presidential Speeches”:

I missed this the first time around, during the ’08 campaign, but Old is the New New pointed me at this terrific poster from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the people who thought up the “Got Milk?” campaign. Consider it a retrospective on what we are blessedly leaving behind in two days.

…or so a bunch of wingnuts would have you believe. Why?

Krispy Kreme, being the genial purveyor of glazed goodness that it is, decided to get in on the Obama inauguration craze and is offering one free doughnut to every costumer on January 20, Inauguration day, and released this seemingly innocuous press release:

“Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is honoring American’s sense of pride and freedom of choice on Inauguration Day, by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer on this historic day, Jan. 20. By doing so, participating Krispy Kreme stores nationwide are making an oath to tasty goodies — just another reminder of how oh-so-sweet ‘free’ can be.”

Well, The American Life League noticed the liberal use of the word choice and decided to blast the chain bakery for producing abortion doughnuts.

“The unfortunate reality of a post-Roe v. Wade America is that ‘choice’ is synonymous with abortion access, and celebration of ‘freedom of choice’ is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand,” the group’s president, Judie Brown said in a statement.

Yes, that’s right. Use the word “choice” in a PR statement, and you’re an abortionist.

Read on and let your mind boggle. Then go buy some Krispy Kremes.

DailyCandy provides this handy savings tip for those in the Dallas area:

SAVE
Farewell to Bush Bikini Wax Special
What: Get 20 percent off Bliss Spa’s signature Brazilian wax and entire line of waxing products.
Why: Time for change.
When: Fri.-Feb. 1.
Where: 2440 Victory Park Ln. (214-953-6200).

With one week to go, Harper’s presents this terrific retrospective index of the Bush administration.

Just a sample:

Estimated total calories members of Congress burned giving Bush’s 2002 State of the Union standing ovations: 22,000

Percentage of the amendments in the Bill of Rights that are violated by the USA PATRIOT Act, according to the ACLU: 50

Minimum number of laws that Bush signing statements have exempted his administration from following: 1,069

Estimated number of U.S. intelligence reports on Iraq that were based on information from a single defector: 100

Number of times the defector had ever been interviewed by U.S. intelligence agents: 0

Ben & Jerry’s are introducing “Yes, PeCan!” for the inauguration.

The folks at Reddit have been brainstorming some Bush/Cheney flavors, including:

• Abu Grape
• Iraqi Road
• Chock ‘n Awe
• Yellow Cake Surprise (“Purchased on the promise of tasty bits of yellow cake. The surprise is that it contains none.”)
• Impeach Cobbler
• Heck of a Job, Brownie

Californians! Want to find out how bigoted your neighborhood is? Check out Eightmaps.

With only twelve days left, Bush takes a look back at his administration. Hard-hitting reporting from the indefatigable crew at The Onion.