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- Regarding this notion that Republicans are deliberately attempting to sabotage an economic recovery, I don't disagree, but I think it's more accurate to say Republicans want to deny Democrats -- and Obama in particular -- success, rather than a poli-sci calculation that presidents win re-election presiding over strong economies. Really, my reaction to the last decade of Republicans trashing the country is Kevin Drum's: I'm flummoxed they were able to get away with it. It's astonishing, but "wired for Republican rule" appears to still be the default political landscape.
- Movement conservatives and would-be presidential contenders are apparently quite upset that a Spring 2011 debate taking place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is to be moderated by the raging liberals at NBC and Politico. I suppose this is just knee-jerk for ambitious Republicans these days -- blast out a few tweets raging against "liberal media bias" -- whatever. The fact is, Republicans can and should choose whichever friendly media sources to moderate their primary debates. But this continuing separation between the right wing and the rest of the country will certainly make it harder to talk to mainstream media sources once the primaries are over.
- It's The Wall St. Journal opinion page, so it's intellectually worthless, but let's take a quick look at the myth that "higher taxes won't reduce the deficit" because "politicians" will immediately spend any new revenues on anything they can. One wonders how this astute sociological observation squares with the budget surpluses the government ran at the end of the century. Apparently, it's because "Taxes were not raised, and the capital-gains tax rate was cut in 1997." OK, but how on earth did those greedy politicians resist splurging the surplus? Isn't the point that if the money's there, it will be spent?
- Weekend Remainders: Steve Clemons looks back on the impact of Chalmers Johnson, who passed away on Saturday; I'll grant that Niall Ferguson is consistent in his open preference for Anglo American-dominated world empire; and Matt Bai, the political reporter who doesn't believe in political science.
--Mori Dinauer
