(Source: CBS News) The war isn’t over. It’s only a cease-fire. Republicans have agreed to fund the federal government through January 15 and extend the government’s ability to borrow (raise the debt ceiling) through Feb. 7. The two sides have committed themselves to negotiate a long-term budget plan by mid-December. The next fight isn’t going […]

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(Edwin Meese | Source: ZUMA) The shutdown is ending badly for the Republicans and especially the Tea Party. The attempt to hijack and take the government hostage will end with a “so you get nothing, you lose, good day, sir!” It must come as a real blow to Jenny Beth Martin, the leader of the […]

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(Nancy Pelosi | Source: AP via Politico) The difference between the sheer energy levels of the far right and the progressive left in Congress is stunning. There is no comparison. The extreme right know who they are: bulls. Their pathway to public recognition comes by defying the Republican Party leadership, thereby securing major media attention. […]

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(Source: Pete Souza) Before the Shutdown, there was the Sequester: deep spending cuts for nearly every branch and department of the government, accompanied by a lapse in an equally broad array of tax subsidies. With all of the events and political-economic catastrophes of the past year, an important detail being crowded off the cliff of […]

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(Source: Emmanuel Saez) With the government set to reopen and the threat of default evaded for now, fears are emerging that the resulting fiscal austerity and financial uncertainty may have seriously weakened the recovery (by as much as $24 billion). But it’s worth looking at exactly what’s being jeopardized. Independent of the GOP’s games of […]

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