Today happens to be the one-year anniversary of FDL News. I know that because it’s also the one-year anniversary of Balloon Boy, and I remember being happy with myself that the first day of the site didn’t mention that story in the least. I thought it set a good precedent. So thanks to all who’ve been hanging out here for the last year. To the links:

• More on this tomorrow, but top CNBC business reporter John Carney is predicting another bailout for the lame duck session. Predicting, or agenda-setting for the elites, you decide.

• My kingdom for someone in Congress to drop something like this bill from Iceland. Wipe out the debt, give relief to tens of millions of Americans, get the country spending and working again. Let the banksters eat it for a change.

• Will the multi-millionaire donors giving huge sums to Karl Rove and the other big outside groups end up owing the IRS in gift taxes? Fortunately, now that the corporations have a grassroots champion in Glenn Beck, maybe the Koch family can lower their tax liability.

• More news of the Federal Reserve not doing its job. Inflation has slowed to a crawl, and we’re definitely in a deflation risk.

• The Tides Foundation basically accuses the advertisers of Fox News of having blood on their hands.

• Unemployed workers may be organizing to get their benefits extended again (they expire at the end of November), and the effort has grown more sophisticated, but I’m really afraid it’s just not going to happen at all this time.

• The clearest indication that Middle East peace talks are about to collapse is that the State Department is about to go public with their concerns about Benjamin Netanyahu’s motives.

• Excellent interview with the author of “A Kidnapping in Milan”, a book about the Abu Omar rendition case.

• It’s quite incredible that Russ Feingold looks like he’s going to lose to a rich businessman who made much of his fortune off his father-in-law and who wants to “re-educate America, but that’s what it’s like out in Wisconsin these days, where the tide has turned against Obama and the Democrats with a vengeance.

• Just as I suspected: that big haul from Sharron Angle had a huge burn rate, probably because most of it just funneled right back to scammy direct-mail outfit Base Connect.

• Good state of play on net neutrality from Politico. I’ve seen more on this issue there than most major broadsheets. They do have at least some value, but it’s usually on the less-covered topics.

• The site owners of the World Trade Center reached a deal with 9,000 sick workers for $47 million in compensation. This is on top of a separate deal with New York City from earlier this year.

• China’s party meetings have been marred by calls for reform. In particular, activists have released a letter calling for the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

• It’s hard to know just what’s true about the Chevy Volt at this point. Even federal regulators judging the car’s fuel economy don’t know how to rate it.

• This story about one man struggling with the claims process for the Gulf oil spill sounds a lot like a HAMP nightmare.

• An oil company in Western PA said “the hell with it” and put up direct corporate ad spending appeals for Republican candidates. Marcellus shale is a big deal out there.

• Fascinating stuff from Sam Stein on the maturation of online campaigning.

• Washington’s insurance commissioner is one of the first in the country to force insurance companies to sell child-only policies, despite their reluctance.

• In WV-Sen, John Raese picks up the Rush Limbaugh endorsement, Rush calls him a neighbor and a guy he’s seen at his country club, not recognizing that he’s not running for mayor of Palm Beach but a Senate seat hundreds of miles away in a poor state. He’s really bailing out the guy with “the best commercial I’ve seen” according to Evan Bayh.

• I could do without “man up,” but Robin Carnahan used a strong tactic to corner Roy Blunt on the health care law. Doesn’t look to be her year, but maybe with more of this…

• I like that Jesse the Body Ventura basically criticizes himself by saying about Sarah Palin “I had more qualifications than she did.” By the way, I hear she was hell on wheels on that Sarah Palin’s Alaska shoot.

• This is sadly not the first conservative I’ve seen this cycle to baselessly accuse their opponent of being gay.

• I don’t even want to think about Tony Blair having sex, but I read this story so now you have to.

• And finally, how could I forget the Rich Whitey story? Although, exactly why is it impossible to change his name on an electronic voting machine? Isn’t this a matter of one line of code?