Read Stuff, You Should

I haven't posted about the general subject of Libya and the Constitution, but instead just turn to what Scott Lemiuex said, supplemented by Matt Yglesias. In my view: the Constitution as it's been actually carried out since the beginning has put a lot of the initiative for wars in the White House; that's mainly because Congress doesn't want the job; Congress does, however, play a role; and all of that is mostly okay, as long as the president doesn't start asserting the authority to ignore Congress when it does choose to act.

More good stuff:

1. Will we still have a shutdown? If not now, in the fall? Seth Masket was there for the last one; another terrific Ezra Klein interview explains why shutdowns might be different these days.

2. The Ryan budget. Annie Lowry goes inside the phony numbers, and Ross Douthat skewers it. Also, Ezra Klein interviews Alice Rivlin, and Andrew Sullivan mulls over health care in general.

3. Presidential politics: As usual, I put more emphasis on pre-primary and elite maneuvering than Ed Kilgore does, but his overview of the field and the schedule is still very much worth reading. Also, Steve Kornacki is absolutely right about Ross Perot, and Ron Replogle takes on the clowns.

4. Other 2012 news: Adam Serwer looks at the possibility of a federal voter ID bill; Jessica Taylor looks at whether women will be running for Congress; and a good piece on redistricting from Eliza Newlin Carney.

5. Some research...Barry Pump and colleagues had a recent paper about policy problems and solutions, and James Warren reports on why experts make mistakes.

6. Serwer again, on the overrated bully pulpit.

7. Kevin Drum on Defunding 2.0.

8. Matt Yglesias and I disagree about a lot of things about parties and democracy, but he's absolutely correct about this: if you want to change politics in the United States, don't leave your party; change it from inside.

9. And James W. Loewen has five myths about why the South seceded.