http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lizza
I found a few things about this particularly interesting, first was just how wrong Obama's political calculus was in the early months of his administration. He appears to have genuinely believed he could work with the Republicans in a post partisan manner, which was in retrospect laughably naive. It was also interesting to see that Obama's team was worried about deficits causing bond rates to go up, the same argument many on here have used. An argument that also turned out to be laughably false.
Related to that, there were some interesting passages about the increasing polarization of Congress, in particular the radicalization of the Republican Party. It mentions some of the same facts I have posted here before about how radicalized the Republicans have become in recent years, but even I was caught unaware at how bad it is in the House. (Republicans have moved right at a rate 600% faster than Democrats have moved left) You know it's bad when a guy from the American Enterprise Institute, a heavily conservative think tank writes:
With this in mind, I think this article effectively illustrates the fundamental misunderstanding of American politics that so frequently comes from the 'a pox on both your houses' crew that views government dysfunction as resulting from both parties' intransigence. (as well as the silliness of the OMGSOCIALISM crew) If nothing else, it provides an interesting view into a pretty important time in our history.
I found a few things about this particularly interesting, first was just how wrong Obama's political calculus was in the early months of his administration. He appears to have genuinely believed he could work with the Republicans in a post partisan manner, which was in retrospect laughably naive. It was also interesting to see that Obama's team was worried about deficits causing bond rates to go up, the same argument many on here have used. An argument that also turned out to be laughably false.
Related to that, there were some interesting passages about the increasing polarization of Congress, in particular the radicalization of the Republican Party. It mentions some of the same facts I have posted here before about how radicalized the Republicans have become in recent years, but even I was caught unaware at how bad it is in the House. (Republicans have moved right at a rate 600% faster than Democrats have moved left) You know it's bad when a guy from the American Enterprise Institute, a heavily conservative think tank writes:
With this in mind, I think this article effectively illustrates the fundamental misunderstanding of American politics that so frequently comes from the 'a pox on both your houses' crew that views government dysfunction as resulting from both parties' intransigence. (as well as the silliness of the OMGSOCIALISM crew) If nothing else, it provides an interesting view into a pretty important time in our history.
