It is once in a generation that an opportunity like this comes along, where the status quo is called into question and where the policy community and Congress can look at it, change it and improve it, ... Given how hard it is to change that status quo ... every policy organization, every think-tanker, every ex-Cabinet officer is going to have a vision, and even a plan, of what we should be doing. |
It is once in a generation that an opportunity like this comes along, where the status quo is called into question and where the policy community and Congress can look at it, change it and improve it. Given how hard it is to change that status quo ... every policy organization, every think-tanker, every ex-Cabinet officer is going to have a vision, and even a plan, of what we should be doing. |
It is once in a generation that an opportunity like this comes along, where the status quo is called into question and where the policy community and Congress can look at it, change it and improve it. Given how hard it is to change that status quo every policy organization, every think-tanker, every ex-Cabinet officer is going to have a vision, and even a plan, of what we should be doing. |
It's a free-for-all atmosphere, |
It's going to push some people who are at the margins of being able to afford it into the consumer category. |
My guess is this is not a time when anyone is looking at a zero-sum game between one state or another. |
One of the assumptions is that it becomes increasingly difficult to get things done in an election year, especially things where tough decisions have to be made. |
That has created a chilling effect on the desire to move an ambitious, comprehensive agenda and may deter Republicans from engaging in a fundamental health care reform debate or tax reform debate. |
The conundrum they face is that they know better. |
The extent to which he used the State of the Union to launch and define the 'ownership society' concept is important because if you take it to its natural extreme, the ownership society would essentially replace the 'Great Society. That's a major shift from where we've been. |
The legislative calendar is shorter and, almost by definition in an election year, tempers will be shorter, too. |
Their survival instincts are on high alert. |
There is a sense this year that anything is possible, that they have the rapt attention of the leadership. |
They did a lot of tier-two issues that were important to certain constituencies but that, in and of themselves, were not of any great magnitude. It was not a year for, obviously, enactment or even action on tier-one issues. |
They will not let anything stand in the way of remaining in the majority, even if it means crossing swords with the president. |