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

The message received in November? Americans want new deficit spending, a stagnant economy, and few new jobs just so long as the only tax hike is on the wealthy dead and their families. Compromise. Pragmatism. **** update: the vote. Most of the nays were from far-left Dems. On the GOP side, Ensign, Sessions, DeMint, Voinovich, and Coburn voted against.

Taxpayers for common sense has identified 6600 earmarks in the omnibus bill worth $8 billion. From the pdf: Transportation Chicago Aviation Education Initiative $250,000 Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) Old Taylor Road Roundabouts $500,000 Childers Cochran, Wicker Bronx Zoo Transportation Facility to alleviate traffic congestion and improve access, Bronx, NY, $500,000 Serrano E. Stadium Bridges Replacement Project, City of Ann Arbor, MI, $500,000 Dingell Illinois Pedestrian and Bicycling road and trail

We’re doomed. As a country, I mean. The press is no longer interested in hiding its progressive propaganda interests; we’re in a civil war, people. And “our” side is losing. Best to keep that in mind. (h/t Andrew Malcolm)

If the GOP leadership can’t stop several of its members from voting for an omnibus bill that will effectively neuter the incoming Congress for an entire fiscal year — and so intentionally undermine the will of the American electorate — than that leadership needs to go. And if we can’t vote our own interests any more by voting for the GOP, we should seriously begin thinking about leaving the party

WaPo: Federal courts in Michigan and Virginia have upheld the law as constitutional, but Monday, a federal court in Virginia reached the opposite result. These and other cases will continue through our courts as opponents try to block the law. But these attacks are wrong on the law, and if allowed to succeed, they would have devastating consequences for everyone with health insurance. […] The legal arguments made against the

And it’s porktacular! It’s nearly 2,000 pages, and even the tables summarizing its thousands of earmarks are a sight to behold. The AP is rightly portraying the bill as the porkers’ last hurrah, a kind of monster’s ball for old-guard appropriators — Republican and Democratic alike — “seeking one last victory before tea party-backed GOP insurgents storm Congress intent on ending the good old days of pork-barrel politics.” […] […]

This is what the “diversity” movement has wrought: After weeks of debate that touched on academics, race and politics, Evanston Township High School District 202 approved a dramatic plan Monday night that eliminates an honors English course for the highest-achieving incoming freshmen — usually white students. The unanimous school board vote paves the way for freshmen of all races, socioeconomic and achievement backgrounds next fall to take the same freshman