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- By all means, if the Democrats want to lose control of Congress, let them make superficial gestures toward deficit reduction a top priority for 2010. Voters only care about the deficit insofar as it is a symbol of their frustration with the fact that there is high unemployment. Long-term deficit reduction is and ever shall be a structural problem, and short-term deficits won't make a difference if they lead to job growth.
- If The Washington Post's editorial page editors would just admit that they run dishonest and error-ridden columns for the sake of link traffic we could only then accuse them of embracing their inner Politico. But since serious newspapers like The Washington Post are largely coasting on a reputation for being serious sources of serious journalism, we get absurd post-hoc justifications for running dishonest and error-ridden columns.
- Matthew Yglesias throws out a few reasons why he thinks the two-party system is so entrenched in the United States, but I think he's conflating two separate questions: What led up to the establishment of the two-party system and what keeps it in place. His fourth reason, election law being written by the parties in power, effectively answers the second question. Answering the first, more historical, question is far more interesting and merits deeper exploration.
- Steny Hoyer appears to understand well the structural problems Congress faces and the degree to which deadlock will remain the defining feature of the legislative process if nothing changes, but unfortunately Hoyer is not in the U.S. Senate, where the truly egregious problems lie. He also doesn't offer any solutions to the problem but I hardly blame him. Fixing the institution of Congress would require its members to rewrite the rules, and few if any are willing to make that leap.
- Remainders: House Republicans unanimously vote to deprive the federal government of its operating budget; I'm sure taking up immigration reform will bring out the best in our members of Congress; more on the fragility of China's economic power; Dave Weigel peruses yet another incoherent book written by some conservative who has no idea what he's talking about; John Bolton glosses human nature in order to justify his own blood lust; Steve Benen is a connoisseur of Fox News polls; and, um, well...no comment.
--Mori Dinauer
