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- In hindsight, the first item of business for the 111th Congress should have been changing the Senate's rules in order to allow for simple majority votes on legislation. Instead, Democrats get to close out the legislative session with a "budget enforcement resolution" that will be subject to Republican filibuster. You'd think Democrats would have found a way to avoid a filibuster by using the budget-reconciliation process to pass a budget, but hey, nobody's perfect!
- Clearly, the motivation behind mindless Politico pieces blaming Barack Obama's sinking poll numbers on poor presidential salesmanship is to generate Web traffic (no link from me). But most journalism in this category reflects a mistaken conviction, in Brendan Nyhan's words, that "treats tactics as the dominant causal force in politics." Now most liberals, myself included, wish Obama would make the case for progressive governance more forcefully, but not because it would magically bend Congress to his will. Rather, it would publicly highlight the fact that Democrats are trying to do things the public wants but have to deal with total Republican obstruction in the Senate.
- I love how Veronique de Rugy spends an entire article arguing that governments can cut spending without mentioning a single program she thinks we should cut. In fact, she even takes big-ticket items off the table altogether: "... nor is every governmental expense as politically risky as Medicare or the Pentagon." Despite this acknowledgment, she believes we can somehow cut 10 to 30 percent of the federal budget. Good thing she's providing expert testimony to Congress on the effects of the stimulus.
- Remainders: McClatchy demonstrates how you write about congressional gridlock; the right-wing is not above using the threat of terrorism as a fundraising tool; Fox News is cool with Republican candidates using the network to raise money for their campaigns; this pretty much permanently removes ARG from the Respectable Pollster list; there is no relationship between executive experience and successful presidencies; and it would be nice if energy legislation actually addressed the environmental impact of our energy needs.
--Mori Dinauer
