And you thought the lame duck Congress would just go home and leave us all alone for the holidays. National Journal: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is making progress in narrowing gaps with his two Democratic colleagues over his controversial plan to adopt sweeping new rules for the Internet, National Journal has learned. But with the talks very fluid, and differences remaining, there’s still a possibility that the regulatory

Last week, 8/16. I suck. This week’s picks: SD over SF – YAY! Cincy over Cleveland – YAY! Dallas over Wash – YAY! HOU over Tenn – X Indy over Jacksonville – YAY! KC over STL – YAY! Miami over Buf – X Tampa over Det – X Ariz over Car – X Balt over NO – YAY! Giants over Philly – X (That’s right: Philly scored 28 in the

Honestly: why are some conservatives warning that it would be bad for the GOP if the government shut down for a few weeks? Talk about being held hostage… Reid killed the omnibus deal. But he’s going to push now for a year-long CR — part of what I’m certain was a planned bait and switch. Will the GOP, giddy that the omnibus bill was pulled, declare victory and take Reid’s

In the 15 Dec 2010 NRO, K.J. Lopez interviews Michael Knox Beran, author of The Pathology of the Elites. In this interview (all of which is worth reading), Beran touches on the problem with modern literary criticism and its moral vacuity in the guise of moral relevance. LOPEZ: Can the elites develop new moral protocols to foster self-knowledge and prevent hubris and overreaching? BERAN:[Lionel] Trilling thought that one could find

Naturally: The House late Thursday gave final approval to a temporary extension of the George W. Bush-era tax rates, delivering a significant but politically bruising victory to President Obama. The $858 billion legislation now heads to the president’s desk for his signature. It extends the Bush tax cuts across the board for two years, slashes the employee payroll tax by 2 percent for one year, renews the estate tax and

Mark Levin: Please contact these senators & politely tell them to vote NO on the omnibus spending bill Senator Lisa Murkowski – Alaska 202-224-6665 Senator Richard Lugar – Indiana 202-224-4814 Senator Susan Collins – Maine 202-224-2523 Senator Olympia Snowe – Maine 202-224-5344 Senator Thad Cochrann – Mississippi 202-224-5054 **** update: Well, then.

This is a taste of our collective futures. But don’t you dare call them death panels. That’s just tawdry.

Of course they did. Luckily, no one was injured. — Which is the best deal they could get. So, like, victory! Comity. Compromise. Pragmatism. (h/t Geoff)

Gee. If only we could have seen this strategy coming: “Republicans are going to have to explain to the American people over the next two years how making those tax cuts for the high end permanent squares with their stated desire to start reducing deficits and debt,” Obama said. Leaving aside the rank silliness of the suggestion that leaving tax rates where they’d been for a decade COSTS anything (were

National Journal’s Michael Hirsh (formerly of Newsweek, Harper’s, and Washington Monthly, among others) says that Republicans are perpetrating “a myth” when they argue that Fannie and Freddie Mac were major causes of the financial crisis. The real cause? “Reckless” de-regulation: Unfortunately for the blame-the-government crowd, the facts don’t bear out their conclusions. Yes, Fannie and Freddie are government sponsored, but they’re run by shareholders looking for a substantial return. And