The Jerk Party

I’m not the first to make this comment , but the current debt limit debate shows what the Tea Party movement (which I once basically supported) really values: being a jerk. Speaker Boehner has a close-to-perfect voting record on conservative issues, is not terribly warm in person (heck, Newt …

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Written by Eli Lehrer on Friday July 29, 2011

A Recovery Menaced By Dysfunctional Politics

In a time of fundamental uncertainty, what do we know for certain? No, that’s not a Yogi Berra kind of question. Timing of passage of an increase of some size in the national debt ceiling remains uncertain. Which side will blink first remains uncertain. Final form of the legislation …

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Written by Steve Bell on Friday July 29, 2011

Ratings Agencies Want to See Bush Tax Cuts Lapse

The suggestion that the US needs to cut $4 trillion in projected debt over the next ten years in order to avoid a downgrade in its debt rating, posed here in an S&P report , has gained significant traction among many on the right. Erick Erickson, when he's not denying "absolution" to the …

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Written by Fred Bauer on Tuesday July 26, 2011

Clear it with Rush

I heard Rush Limbaugh talk in his first hour today about the details of the Boehner plan. I was in the car returning from the gym, and I just assumed I'd missed the release of the plan earlier. But no. Limbaugh indeed got the scoop . It's worth noting that for all the conservative obsession …

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Written by David Frum on Monday July 25, 2011

Was GOP Fooled By Its Own Budget Numbers?

A number of Republicans are complaining about the “bad deal” their leadership struck last week. Were they confused about the actual budget numbers? A substantial number of the House Republican caucus are now complaining loudly about the “bad deal” their leadership struck to pass the Continuing …

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Written by Steve Bell on Thursday April 14, 2011

Boehner Faces GOP Budget Revolt

Boehner's fight to keep his caucus unified in the spending fight just got a lot harder: Tuesday, fiscal hawks in the House announced plans to draft a rival 2012 budget proposal. Today’s news that conservatives in the House Republican Study Committee will draft their own alternative Fiscal Year …

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Written by Steve Bell on Tuesday March 29, 2011

Boehner's Budget Truce Averts Shutdown

Boehner's two-week spending bill may have avoided a shutdown for now, but the GOP's budget woes may just be beginning. As Congress dithers on the federal budget, the states have taken the bull by the horns.  Sometimes, as in the case of Wisconsin Gov. Scott, maybe too close to the horns. …

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Written by Steve Bell on Wednesday March 2, 2011