Ezra Klein

I know that the reconciliation discussion is getting a bit hard to follow. The quick version is that reconciliation is a complicated budget process that could pass health reform with 50 votes. It short-circuits the filibuster. But to be used, reconciliation “instructions” must appear in the budget. They don’t exist in the Senate budget. They […]

I understand Evan Bayh’s decision to vote against the budget. In a Senate with 59 Democrats, the opportunity to emerge as the marquee swing vote is undeniably attractive. It brings with it real power over policy and real celebrity in Washington. And there’s even a legitimate argument that Bayh developed in his statement today. He […]

I get that the question of how to ask a girl’s father for her hand in marriage without him saying “no” is a stressful question. But if we’re dealing with a father traditional enough to desire first right of refusal, then I’d probably advise not asking him by way of an article explaining why you […]

I love that term. Due credit goes to Michael Ruhlman, who coins it in his post advising aspiring food writers. “Teaching yourself to write is simply a matter of practice, generating words and words and words until you figure out how they really fit together. I don’t believe the ability to write is a gift,” […]

If you’ve been following the financial press, you’ve probably heard a lot about “special drawing rights,” which are increasingly emerging as a key component in the response to the global aspects of the financial crisis. Over at Foreign Policy, Annie Lowrey explains what they are. You sort of wonder if Michelle Bachmann realizes America just […]

Marc Ambinder and Jon Cohn both hear that the reconciliation process will survive the conference that merges the House and Senate budget proposals. I’m not hearing anything different, though nor am I certain that final decisions have been reached. Kent Conrad, for one, has been suggesting that it’s better to leave reconciliation out of the […]

The morning rains have passed, the sun’s broken through the clouds, the budget is on its way to conference, and it’s Friday. How could I not post this? As a side note, I was trying to find the Delgados cover of this song, but the only YouTube version available is set to a photo montage […]

Many of my fellow District-dwellers were hoping that the global deflationary spiral/financial crash/housing collapse might bring the price on a two-bedroom in Mt. Pleasant down from, say, several bazillion dollars. That doesn’t seem to have happened. And in part, it’s probably because the federal government is something of a counter-cyclical industry, as you can see […]

Some fiscally responsible senators should probably take note of the fact that taxpayers are about to lose as much as $8 billion because the paper industry figured out how to game an alternative-energy tax break. Chris Hayes reports: In 2005 Congress passed, and George W. Bush signed, the $244 billion transportation bill. It included a […]

Evan Bayh on the budget: “The spending blueprint voted on by the Senate today represents an improvement from years past because it is more transparent and honest than the budgets to which we’ve grown accustomed. The money we will borrow will fund important priorities like affordable health care, energy independence, job creation, and education improvements, […]