Health Care: All Over But The Secrecy

David Lightman and William Douglas of the McClatchy Newspapers syndicate point out that the real action on the health care bill will take place in the murky world of conference committees, which--like many other things on the Hill--don't really work the way your father's (or, for that matter, your) American government textbook says they do: To most Americans, the conference process ...

Cash For Cloture

Someone, perhaps this commenter at ABC's The Note, has coined "Cash for Cloture" to describe the outrageous giveaways agreed to by the Senate Democratic leadership to buy off the last few Senators to get to 60 votes on the health care bill.  It's spreading fast, with Mark Steyn and Glenn Reynolds employing the meme and Michelle Malkin using the coinage ...

Ressentiment Creep

Earlier this week, Julian Sanchez penned a piece titled "The Politics of Ressentiment" to explain the Sarah Palin and Tea Party phenomena.   It challenges Conor Friedersdorf's notion that Palin's "exaggerated victimhood" as part of a phenomenon he himself dubbed "the politics of schadenfreude — the strategy of deliberately drawing political support from the perception that you’re being treated unfairly."  As ...

How Negotiation Works

In regards the current internecine Democratic fight over the health care compromise, Megan McArdle argues that many people are simply naive about as to how the negotiation process operates: This bill is, at this point, hideously unpopular.  I'm pretty sure you've got a bunch of senators who would really, really love not to vote for it.  Ultimately, the moderates had a ...

Senators ‘Holding Health Care Hostage’

In response to the growing refrains from the Left about Joe Lieberman "holding health care hostage," Steven Taylor observes that, "Either the votes can be mustered or they can’t. It is the way of legislating." Or of any close decision-making process, for that matter. Sandra Day O'Connor used to "hold the Constitution hostage."   Now, Anthony Kennedy does it.  Their vote ...

Health Care Compromise Too Much for Progressives to Swallow?

After months of compromising to satisfy Blue Dog Democrats and garner at least one Republican vote for the Senate version of health care reform, they've come up with a bill that their progressive base hates.    Yes, they've apparently lost Nebraska's Ben Nelson.  Oh, and Olympia Snowe may be off the train again, too. But they'll figure out a way to ...

Obama the Superhero

Taegan Goddard wonders whether it's "time for Obama to get angry" with recalcitrant bankers and Senate opponents alike.  He cites Mark Murray's observation that "If there is one thing that both yesterday’s meeting with the bankers and today's meeting with Senate Democrats have in common, it's that they’re situations where some might argue that it's time for the cool, calm, ...

Is America Ungovernable?

Progressives are increasingly frustrated that, despite having won the presidency by a comfortable margin and having solid majorities in the House and Senate -- where they have a "filibuster-proof" 60 votes -- they still can't enact the policies they want.   Matt Yglesias says "smarter elements in Washington DC are starting to pick up on the fact that it’s not tactical ...

Comparative Fringes

Steve Benen is a bit disappointed that I didn't "follow [Charles] Johnson's lead and reject what's become of the contemporary political right" in my post responding to his departure.  In particular, he thinks I'm too easy on the conservative fringe groups and understate their hold on the movement. I continue to think this is a mistaken approach to the ideological ...

Charles Johnson ‘Breaks’ From the Right

In a move that has been coming for nearly two years, Charles Johnson has issued a manifesto explaining "Why I Parted Ways With The Right."  For those who don't know, Johnson is the founder and principal author of Little Green Footballs, one of the oldest and most popular blogs.  He was an elder statesman in the game when I started ...

Republicans Enjoy Enthusiasm Gap

Via Taegan Goddard, I see that the latest Daily Kos/Research 2000 tracking poll show that Republicans are markedly more excited about the 2010 election than Democrats. QUESTION: In the 2010 Congressional elections will you definitely vote, probably vote, not likely vote, or definitely will not vote? [...] Voter Intensity: Definitely + Probably Voting/Not Likely + Not Voting Republican Voters: 81/14 Independent Voters: 65/23 DEMOCRATIC VOTERS: 56/40 Like ...

Reading the Bill is a Waste of Time

Bruce Bartlett articulates something that I've been wanting to write about for a while about the "read the bill" nonsense, and since he did a better job of it than I would have, I'll just direct you to him: The 1,990-page length of the health reform bill is once again bringing forth demands that members of Congress be required to read ...

Republicans Win Big in Local Races

The loss of a Republican seat in NY-23 under highly unusual circumstances notwithstanding, yesterday was a good day for Republicans. After crushing defeats in successive elections, they won back the Virginia governor's office in a blowout and knocked off a billionaire incumbent governor in New Jersey despite having their vote split between two candidates. I would, however, resist the temptation ...

Lobbying and Sunk Costs

Economist David Zetland explains the political economy of lobbying by auctioning a dollar bill for $3.75. As he explains: This set of incentives ("on the margin") makes it rational to keep raising the stakes given that you have bid because winning always has a higher payoff than losing. The "right strategy" is, of course to not bid at all. (As Joshua, the ...

Recession Over, Obama Takes Credit

As widely expected, the Powers That Be have declared the recession  over, while cautioning that the economy still has a long way to go.  And, of course, the Obama administration is crediting its stimulus packages for the good news. It might not feel like it to most voters, but the U.S. economy is growing again after a more than a year ...