After last fall's electoral defeats, a shaken Democratic Congress returned to Washington to assess its political position and leadership, during what would turn out to be a surprisingly productive lame-duck session. Following a close look at the roster, both the House and the Senate Democratic caucuses elected the same leadership slates that oversaw punishing losses in 2010. Yet with so many veterans culled in November -- 63 in the House and six in the Senate -- a new generation of leaders needs to step up inside the Democratic Caucus to regain electoral ground and continue pushing their party's priorities in the face of an increasingly conservative Republican Party. That's why Democrats are raising the profile of some newer members and emphasizing a congenial caucus where moderate and conservative members can still find a home. "Many members of the Democratic Caucus voted against the health-care bill, and I expect many of them might vote for repealing the health-care bill," sophomore...

Despite what you hear, It's not necessarily true that Republicans want to cut the budget. Or rather, that they want to face the consequences of doing so. Take the new rule that gives House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan the ability to essentially write a budget resolution himself should the House fail to pass one normally. While many have criticized the plan as a power grab, the move appears to be less about giving Ryan unilateral control and more about finding a way for Republicans to avoid tough votes on the specifics of their austerity vision -- no committee wrangling over the tough choices, just lower preset spending levels from the budget chairman. And the vote to do so happens at the beginning of the year, before any of the debate begins -- it doesn't sound like the new majority is all that interested in getting into the nitty-gritty of shared sacrifice, to borrow President Obama's favorite phrase. Similarly, House Republicans have suddenly discovered that their promise to...