The Curse of Reasonableness

Paul Krugman, as always, hits the bulls eye in his latest column. Federal taxes are lower, now, than they were under the Eisenhower administration, yet the Great Society programs are still largely intact. Bush can't eliminate Medicare and Medicaid, or even cut them significantly. But he can create a fiscal crisis, forcing a future administration to do so. As the Financial Times notes, "the lunatics are now in charge of the asylum."

The problem, unfortunately, is that most Americans are far too reasonable to believe this. Tell them that Bush is deliberately destroying America's credit and they'll accuse you of being hysterical, spreading conspiracy theories, and will dismiss it as a lot of partisan hot-air. When conservative bloggers accuse liberals of being shrill, they're right. Reasonableness is a curse when you're diving off a cliff.

Wanted: Tom DeLay

As we know, Josh Marshall continues to post on Tom DeLay and his involvement in the Texan redistricting scandal. I hope the story has legs, partly because this comment at Eschaton suggests he might be vulnerable:

As one of the original "trolls" (and various other names) here at Eschaton, let me add that I hope against all hope that DeLay goes down for this and goes down hard.

It has been a couple of years since I worked for a Repub Congressman, but it was an open secret in D.C. that no one, I repeat no one, likes/liked DeLay but there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it yet.

If this story has the legs that I think it has look for the fangs to start coming out this week or next.