On the front of Politico is an article about how the big bipartisan deals that used to be relatively common in Congress now appear to be a thing of the past. From Politico: Call it the Split the Difference Scenario — a dream of Washington at its civic-minded best that has flourished for decades, even [...]

Senate Democrats apparently are trying to scare Republicans into not filibustering every single thing, by threatening to filibuster everything the GOP tries to do if the GOP regains power. From Politico: The White House and Senate Democrats are issuing a blunt warning to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republicans: You live by the filibuster, [...]

In case you weren’t paying attention during the debate about the extension of the Bush tax cuts last year, members of Congress are again working on a deal to clearly show there is no such thing as a deficit hawk. From Politico: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is quietly working both sides of the Capitol to [...]

There are increasing signs that the Super Committee won’t reach a deal. This is great news, because no deal means no cuts to Medicare and Social Security, and presumably less likelihood that we will implement dramatically more destructive austerity in the middle of an economic downturn. Reports coming out indicate that the individuals involved are [...]

The Democrats on the Super Committee, in their efforts to reach an deal with Republicans, have offered a new deficit reduction package and just like their last offer this one also contains cuts to Medicare benefits. From Politico: Supercommittee Democrats quietly floated details late Wednesday of a $2.3 trillion tax-and-cut proposal that includes $400 billion [...]

It was clear from the inception of the deficit reduction Super Committee that it was designed for the purpose of cutting entitlements, especially Social Security benefits. The Super Committee proposal was given the same protection from a filibuster as debate on a reconciliation bill, but the Super Committee proposal is not subject to the same [...]

An article in Politico about President Obama’s deficit speech, by Carrie Budoff Brown and Ben Smith, starts with the line, “President Barack Obama finally gave his liberal critics exactly what they wanted.” I want to make it clear that in no way was this deficit speech what I wanted. With unemployment over 9 percent and [...]

Republican Super Congress member Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ) has come out against the committee trying to reach a “grand bargain” that includes new taxes and entitlement reform. From National Journal: A top Republican on the super committee charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years said on Tuesday he will ask fellow [...]

The Appeals Court of the 11th Circuit just ruled that the individual mandate in the new Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. The ruling does, though, leave the rest of the law intact. From Politico: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that the health care reform law’s requirement that nearly all Americans buy [...]