Libya, Libya, Libya. Also Syria, also Egypt...you get the idea.
Budget negotiations continue to go slow, at best. I'm feeling pretty good (or, to put it another way, not good at all) about my TNR column a few weeks ago saying that riders = shutdown.
What else? I never know for sure what it means when someone announces he or she is not running for president...but if it's true that Jim DeMint dropped out this week, I actually think that's a much bigger deal than, say, Michele Bachmann's much-hyped semi-announcement that she's in. I don't know what DeMint's chances are, but I'm confident that they were better than Bachmann's. Tim Pawlenty made his already certain run a step more official, but that's just a change in formal status, not news.
So that's what I have. What do you think mattered this week?
Census data, and the voting trends buried within, migration of blacks out of the city and back to the south, and growth in Latino and Asian populations. I expect to see this information bringing a different tone to politics; greater push from the Tea Party fringe on 14th amendment changes, more moderate tone from more traditional Republicans. Also changes in how Democrats organize, particularly in urban centers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0325_census_demographics_frey.aspx
Although I'm not sure it matters, I found the no confidence vote in Canada pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Vermont moving closer to a Single-Payer health care system is something to keep an eye on.
ReplyDeleteThe Times today says that we're getting close to a gov. shutdown. Jacob Lew is frustrated. http://nyti.ms/fZDsYQ
ReplyDeleteWell, you brought up DeMint, so I'll jump in.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think DeMint staying out "matters." However, I really didn't think DeMint was running. His name was being tossed about, and I think he wasn't discouraging that because it raised his profile. But, I don't think he ever thought that 2012 was his year, and was always going to back down without forming a committee.
The Japan nuclear crisis is not over yet.
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