Even some Republicans, who have up to now been unanimous in their refusal to compromise with Democrats on anything, are beginning to wonder about the wisdom of the continued paralysis. The few mainstream Republicans who remain in Congress recognize that the latest debacle, the failure to pass even a temporary extension of the payroll tax [...]

If I liked anything about John Boehner I’d be tempted to feel sorry for him. He has wanted on a number of occasions to make a deal with President Obama–on the debt ceiling, on unemployment insurance, on taxes–and every time he thought he had one the Tea Party balked. He wants to be the guy [...]

Unless things change dramatically in the next few days, the Republican party will take this country into default on its obligations for the first time in history. The fanatical freshmen members of the House, elected in the depth of the recession in 2010, are in no mood to compromise in any way, even with their [...]

We may yet get a budget deal without a government shutdown, but it won’t be any credit to the Tea Party absolutists who see ANY compromise as a betrayal of their core principles. It will be because feckless Democrats caved on theirs. The last I heard, the Dems were so desperate for a deal they [...]

I’ve been having a lively conversation with one of the readers of this site about, among other things, the meaning of words. As many others have in the past, he has predicted that if I don’t like what he has to say, I will “censor” his postings, as have the Rocky Mountain News and the [...]