Tim Fernholz

Every returning Democratic Senator has signed on to a letter in support of filibuster reform: While it does not urge a specific solution, Democrats said it demonstrates increased backing in the majority for a proposal, championed by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and others, weaken the minority’s ability to tie the Senate calendar into parliamentary knots. […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to formally ask President Obama to release convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Read Spencer Ackerman, who knows about these things, for some context to this story, which includes, rather interestingly, the Center for American Progress’ national security expert Larry Korb. It strikes me as pretty gutsy, however, for Netanyahu […]

I must say, just two days from Christmas Eve, I am infected with the Christmas spirit. So is Washington, D.C.’s city council, which does its level best to make laws during the occasional periods when members of Congress aren’t trying to impose their own views on the District’s citizenry. Here’s a report from local blog […]

Ezra Klein notes that the budget resolution approved by the Senate to keep the government running through March doesn’t fund the implementation of health-care or financial reform. Pat Garofalo has been doing yeoman’s work keeping an eye on the financial reform side of things, and what he’s found ain’t pretty: Both the SEC and CFTC […]

Brad Plumer examines Senator Tom Coburn’s efforts to identify waste in the federal government, and sums up nicely: Not surprisingly, the report garnered adoring press attention. Stories of “gold-plated potties” in Arkansas feed into stereotypes about unaccountable government bureaucrats. Plus, there’s a comforting moral here: Surely, the report suggests, we can balance the budget without […]

Patrick Appel, referencing an argument from James Joyner, asks: Why is Obamacare so offensive to some liberals? Because, as a meme, it was invented to make healthcare reform efforts unpopular with voters by implying that the government, in the form of President Obama, was going to be making your health-care decisions. It’s part and parcel […]

Joseph A. Smith, formerly North Carolina’s Bank Commissioner, is the White House’s nominee to run the agency that regulates federally-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but he’s facing some trouble: If the Senate confirms him for the job, he might adopt policies to help consumers, and that’s enough to lead some Republicans to […]

Perhaps the best response to last week’s Republican “presponse” to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission comes from the New York Times’ Joe Nocera, who focuses on commission member Peter Wallison: The only problem with Mr. Wallison’s theory is that it’s not, as they say, reality-based. Anyone who has looked at the role of Fannie and […]

Alan Blinder assesses the economic situation in today’s Wall Street Journal, and the news ain’t good: When it comes to wages, the basic story of recent decades is redolent of Scrooge. Real average hourly earnings (excluding fringe benefits) now stand roughly at 1974 levels. Yes, that’s right, no real increase in over 35 years. That […]

Last night, Republicans walked out of an agreement they had negotiated with Democrats in recent months, killing a spending bill that would have kept government functioning through the new year. Ostensibly, this is due to Republicans’ new objections to earmarks, which mean that top Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Thad Cochran turned their back on […]