Monday opinion.
Paul Krugman:
When historians look back at 2008-10, what will puzzle them most, I believe, is the strange triumph of failed ideas. Free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about everything — yet they now dominate the political scene more thoroughly than ever...
The answer from the right is that the economic failures of the Obama administration show that big-government policies don’t work. But the response should be, what big-government policies?
EJ Dionne:
The central question in our politics is whether we can break out of formulaic discussions that always end up in the same place. Here's one major test: Can progressives change their way of thinking about business? ...
Who in the commercial world might lead a push for reform? Progressives, including my Post colleague Harold Meyerson, have taken note of a Bloomberg Businessweek article by Andy Grove, who was Intel's longtime leader. Grove asked exactly the right question: "What kind of a society are we going to have if it consists of highly paid people doing high-value-added work - and masses of unemployed?"
Robert J Samuelson:
So support for schools, police, roads and other state and local activities is undermined by careless - or corrupt - bargains between politicians and their public-worker unions. Promises of generous future retirement benefits were expedient contract sweeteners, with most costs conveniently deferred. Even when pension contributions were supposed to be made, they were often reduced or postponed when budgets were tight. If these arrangements look familiar, they should. The U.S. auto industry adopted the same model; the costs helped bankrupt General Motors and Chrysler.
Let 'em eat catfood when they retire. It's good for the bottom line.
Bloomberg:
Supporters of a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia said they’re confident of having enough votes to ratify the accord, even as top Republicans said they will try to delay it until next year.
The Senate yesterday rejected a Republican-sponsored amendment that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said would have scuttled the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Lawmakers are scheduled to resume debate today on the treaty, one of their last major pieces of business before adjourning.
Republicans might reject it simply to deny Obama a "win". That would be the culmination of "party over country" this GOP group embarked on in 2008 when a Democrat was elected. While the pundits prattle about bipartisanship, this is how things really work in DC (see 9/11 responder support for more details.)
ProPublica:
But despite pressure from Congress and the recommendations of military and civilian experts, the Pentagon's health plan for troops and many veterans refuses to cover the treatment -- a decision that could affect the tens of thousands of service members who have suffered brain damage while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...
Versions of this story were co-published with NPRand Stars and Stripes. For more coverage, listen to NPR's All Things Considered starting today at 4 p.m.
And in case you thought DADT was the end of it (I know you knew better), Reuters:
Three newly-elected Iowa state representatives are drafting legislation that they hope will lead to impeaching four state Supreme Court justices who struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
Merry Christmas, Iowa.
BBC on health and wealth inequities and progress in the last 200 years.