Continuing discussion on the budget, certainly. I suspect the really big thing is internal discussions about the path ahead in Afghanistan...we're seeing some reporting on it, but it's hard to tell week-to-week exactly what stage things are at.
I'll probably say something later about today's big story about Libya, Obama, and the War Powers Act.
Beyond that...Syria, Yemen, and other Middle East and North Africa conflicts continue. The Republicans had a debate; it's unlikely to matter much, unless it shakes Rick Perry into the race (but I think he was already looking to get in).
What am I missing?
I've wondered about Gate's farewell NATO speech; combined with Obama's end-run around Congress on Libya and calls for push back from both the left and right -- a series of moves that might reposition US defense, to push the burden more to other countries and open the door for some serious defense cuts?
ReplyDeleteI think you're on target: the discussions on both Afghanistan and Libya are very important, and both very much behind the scenes and hard to figure out what's going on. In 10 years, we might be talking about this as an important week in the history of the balance between the exec and legislature.....or, we could just as easily have forgotten the whole thing (if nothing comes of it).
ReplyDeleteThe vote on eliminating the ethanol subsidies was quite important even if its the first in a long road towards getting the GOP to accept some sort of revenue enhancements. The failure of Pawlenty to go after Romney during the Republican debate after referring to the health care legislation passed in 2010, "Obamneycare" prior to the debate but not following up during the debate showed his political antenna and sense of the importance of expectations to be pretty weak. This may not be fatal but its a very poor initial effort. And finally Bachmann's performance at the debate may make things much easier for Romney by helping her carve out some of the anti-Romney energy and since she's not likely to be nominated she will be a great opponent for him to face.
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