At Politico, Alex Isenstadt explains why he thinks “House Democrats face uphill slog in 2014” with another argument based mostly on historical precedent — the so-called “six-year itch.” But he quotes Democratic pollster Andrew Myers, who advises, “If I’m a member of Congress and I want to beat back the trend, I turn my focus to constituent services and forge a relationship with voters. That way, I’m with the constituents and not Washington.”
You gotta love this title of an article excerpt by Rahm Emanuel at The Root. Read Rahm’s entire WaPo op-ed right here.
WaPo’s Al Kamen has some scuttlebutt on possible cabinet appointees for Obama’s second term, focusing on Latinos.
Two more big name Republicans back away from the Norquist pledge.
Meanwhile, Stephen Moore has a Wall St. Journal interview article on Norquist’s denial that the pledge is in trouble, arguing that a few are having “impure thoughts…but no one is caving.”
Ross Ramsey, executive editor of The Texas Tribune, explains why “Democrats Did Not Do All That Badly on Election Day,” even in the Lone Star state.
Black Friday is over. But here’s a quickie guide to some of the more popular retailers that support Democrats and some that don’t by The Monitor’s Peter Grier.
It’s more like “fiscal phantoms” than a ‘fiscal cliff,’ explains Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, who adds “…We have our own currency — and almost all of our debt, both private and public, is denominated in dollars. So our government, unlike the Greek government, literally can’t run out of money. After all, it can print the stuff. So there’s almost no risk that America will default on its debt — I’d say no risk at all if it weren’t for the possibility that Republicans would once again try to hold the nation hostage over the debt ceiling…But if the U.S. government prints money to pay its bills, won’t that lead to inflation? No, not if the economy is still depressed.”
And in the Sunday New York Times, Warren Buffet updates his case for higher taxes on the wealthy, also explaining that “it’s sickening that a Cayman Islands mail drop can be central to tax maneuvering by wealthy individuals and corporations…We can’t let those who want to protect the privileged get away with insisting that we do nothing until we can do everything.”
Salon.com’s Jonathan Bernstein addresses the issue of the hour in his post, “How to stop GOP obstructionism.”