The Star-Telegram reports that electricity prices have risen 21 percent since Feburary 21-only six weeks ago. The increase is tied to the price of natural gas, which is also on the rise, and energy experts predict that higher prices now will mean a bigger-than-usual rate increase over the summer.

Just when you thought the financial news was waning, the Federal Reserve comes roaring back with more plans for market stabilization in the form of additional rate cuts. There might not be many more moves like this left in Bernanke, though, as Bloomberg reports he may be running low on money and methods for dealing with a market in ongoing crisis.

While I'm no fan of the Wall Street Journal's editorial pages, the reporting corps has produced a tidy chronological explanation of what happened with Bear Sterns last week. They also look to the future:

The question now looming over the transaction: Has the government set a precedent for propping up failing financial institutions at a time when its more traditional tools don't appear to be working?

The Michigan state legislature must finalize the plan they presented to both campaigns by Thursday or else wait two weeks over the Easter recess. So they would really like to have it hammered out this week.

Barack Obama delivered what his campaign termed "a major speech" in Philadelphia this morning on race in America and his relationship with Pastor Jeremiah Wright. The full text is available from the Washington Post. Update: YouTubed after the jump.

There are plenty of reasons to think the US is currently in a recession, which is probably why 3 out of 4 respondents in a new poll about economic perception feel that way.

Uh oh.

After weeks of negotiations, the Florida Democratic Party said Monday it will not hold a second primary in the state.

Now this gets kicked to the DNC Rules committee. We have interesting times ahead of us.

Campaigning is hard work, and only for those among us that are built for it. Just a few days ago a friend of mine asked me if the presidential campaigns ever take a day off. I just sort of laughed and said, "Not the good ones." He said, "Isn't this primary quite a bit longer than they usually are? How are the workers contending with that? Badly, I would imagine." I sent him this as a confirmation of his suspicions.

The issue holding up the Michigan re-vote seems to be a chicken-or-the-egg kind of argument:

State lawmakers looking at a Democratic presidential primary redo in Michigan appear to be locked in a standoff heading into a crucial week: Legislative leaders say the U.S. Sen. Barack Obama camp needs to agree to the repeat election before legislation is written, and Obama supporters say they must see the bill before signing off on the plan.

The Austin American-Statesman's Laylan Copelin takes a look at how Tom Craddick's path to getting re-elected as Speaker is getting more complicated by the day.