Mori Dinauer

The prospect of having two libertarian candidates in the 2012 Republican presidential primary would, I agree, increase the profile of libertarianism in Republican politics, but I very much doubt it would substantively change the GOP’s continuing descent into nationalistic populism. It’s easy to co-op popular sentiment about tax rates or “runaway” government spending, but ultimately […]

It’s just two examples, but it’s a testament to the GOP’s message machine that the press overwhelmingly favors the narrative that Republicans are deeply concerned about the deficit while Democrats regularly blow money on the the nation’s credit. Likewise with the belief that Democrats get bogged down in policy-making because they accede to the demands […]

As Jamelle and Brendan Nyhan correctly observe, the president making filibuster reform a major priority would go a long ways toward reconnecting the professional left to his administration. The reason is because liberals, unlike conservatives, conspicuously lack dog-whistle politics. If the president were to talk about filibuster reform, most Americans would be indifferent to the […]

No one knows what impact Ron Paul will have as the incoming chair of the House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee, but this is one of those moments where it would be nice to have a consequence-free political test environment where one could do things like abolish the Fed and see the actual results. Unfortunately, we […]

Barack Obama‘s continuing need to scold his allies is rather baffling, but ultimately it won’t matter as long as his “silent majority” holds up. Indeed, given how horrible economic conditions are, it’s surprising that his overall approval rating has fluctuated very little over the past year. It’s not hard to imagine modest economic growth being […]

Michael Lind voices a call to arms: “The disconnect between the actions of the government and public opinion is the central fact of American politics today. It doesn’t seem to matter whether liberal Democrats or conservative Republicans are in power. Only minor, marginal reforms ever take place. … If America is to be rescued, the […]

It’s important to understand that the policy issues that matter to “the public” are dependent on class. Social Security, for instance, is important to a lot of people occupying the mid to low ranks of income distribution, not those above it, which is why pampered journalists are always worried about the program’s alleged “insolvency problem.” […]

In light of the latest news about our Vibrant and Growing Economy, it’s worth looking at the composition of all this idle labor that’s been sitting around for the past few years. Via Matt Yglesias, the biggest losses were in manufacturing and construction, which isn’t surprising, but the policy response has been. I realize the […]

It isn’t fair to use the tax-cut debacle as an example of how poor Barack Obama is at negotiation — his position has been clear for some time — but rather how lost congressional Democrats have been on the issue (at least until today). That being said, the tax-cut fight has prompted a lot of […]

In an ideal world, tax cuts would be extended for people who would actually benefit from it, rather than rich people. But since the sociopaths in the GOP (and their enablers in the conservative movement) only care about making the rich slightly richer, and Democrats have bafflingly punted on this issue until the 11th hour, […]