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

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