The Hollywood Liberal

Concessions on financial reform bill yield few gains in Senate
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate banking committee, introduced a revised bill on Monday to overhaul financial regulation that included compromises forged with Republicans in recent months but fell short of winning endorsement from conservatives, including members in his own party.

Sen. Dodd to introduce plan to overhaul financial regulatory system
Senate banking Chairman Sen. Christopher J. Dodd will try to strike a delicate balance Monday as he introduces a new measure to overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory system, including provisions aimed at shoring up support among fellow Democrats but also incorporating compromises he reached with Republicans.

Early races for Congress may give forecast for November
Circle May 18 on your calendar. What happens that day will tell us much about the mood of the electorate heading into the November midterm elections.

Learning Reagan’s Lessons from 1982
John Judis, The New Republic
I have argued that rising unemployment inevitably imperils the political prospects of a president and his party. So I'm not surprised that President Barack Obama's approval ratings have steadily fallen over the last year, or that Democrats have fared poorly in recent elections. And it's fair to say that if unemployment continues to rise, or stays at the same elevated level, the Democrats will have trouble in the midterm elections this November.Still, this is not an iron law. Sometimes other factors have overshadowed rising unemployment or falling wages. In 2002, Republicans…

Fiscal Responsibility is No Fun
John Stossel, FOX Business
March 12, 2010 12:27 PM EST by John StosselAs the Democrats scramble to pass health care legislation, talk still returns to the idea that at least the health care bill is “deficit neutral”. That is, while it spends more than a trillion on a new entitlement, it pays for itself mostly by cuts in Medicare. Of course, the doc fix — scheduled Medicare cuts to doctors which Congress has no intention of making — will dwarf those savings and add $89 billion to the deficit.But leave that aside. Medicare already faces a $30 Trillion deficit. The bigger issue is that Democrats are poised to…

Are Tea Partiers Changing the GOP?
Michael Barone, DC Examiner