So far, Sen. McConnell’s proposal on the debt ceiling seems to be playing out as I expected. In an interview today, McConnell focused plenty of attention on the political calculation of his problem. His biggest fear: that the Republicans will share responsibility for the economy. Um, aren’t they in control of half of the federal…
McConnell’s True Colors
Yesterday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a new, and complex, proposal regarding the debt ceiling. The proposal boils down to this: Congress would give the President authority to raise the debt ceiling in increments over the coming year. The only check to this power would be a joint congressional resolution halting the raise, but…
Political Shorts
Here are a few items that have caught my interest but don’t require a full post. More good news from Eric Cantor (previously here and here): He won’t be signing the “Cut, Cap, Balance” pledge. Members of the House Republican leadership (Cantor included) keep telling Obama that there simply aren’t votes to pass a deal…
Cantor and the Budget, Update
I recommended earlier that we’d need to watch Rep. Eric Cantor’s future statements to see whether he was serious about negotiation and compromise or not. Today he’s made a statement that I would characterize as a half-step in the right direction. By accepting at least the principle of raising some taxes (by “closing loopholes”) as…
Brooks on (Im)Moderation
David Brooks is the only political columnist I follow regularly. Unlike most of the others I’ve encountered, he does a good job of leaving the shrillness behind for more nuanced argument, usually balanced with a good measure of praise where praise is due. So when he writes a column like the one published yesterday, it…
Eric Cantor’s Approach to Budget Negotiations
On Thursday, Rep. Eric Cantor pulled out of budget talks led by Vice Pres. Joe Biden. In doing so, Cantor announced that negotiations had reached an impasse over tax increases. Basically, the Republicans in the House don’t want them, so they couldn’t be passed in that chamber. And Senate Democrats do want them, so they…
In Praise of New York Senate Republicans
In the midst of all the discussion of the passage of Same-Sex Marriage legislation in New York, I want to take a moment to congratulate the Republicans for behaving like passionate moderates. First, some praise for those who voted against the bill: This article in the New York Times details the active and effective role…
Citizenship as a Foundation
In my last post I suggested that the concept of citizenship could provide the basis for a system of valuing individual worth, a system which was sometimes complimentary with and sometimes constraining of capitalism. In explaining this system of citizenship, I’ll start with the three qualifications I outlined earlier: It does not require a radical…
Capitalism and the Worth of the Individual
I’ve been thinking recently about how our capitalist economic system values individuals. The free enterprise system has been a great benefit to the United States in helping this nation accumulate unprecedented levels of wealth. But that system isn’t very good at distributing wealth equitably according to any standards other than the internal logic of the…
Commander in Chief
I watched the Republican debate last night and had plenty of thoughts that I won’t share here. But one thing that really stood out to me was the way in which they dodged military-related questions, both those having to do with “don’t ask, don’t tell” and items of foreign policy. Their most common refrain was…