Steve Benen

I suspect most readers saw the news yesterday, but just in case, this is my very last post here at the Washington Monthly. I’ll start my new gig at MSNBC on Monday, Jan. 30. (I’ll be traveling on Thursday and Friday, so no blogging for me.) I am thrilled to be passing the torch to […]

Today’s edition of quick hits: * Bernanke looks ahead: “The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it was likely to raise interest rates at the end of 2014, but not until then, adding another 18 months to the expected duration of its most basic and longest-running response to the financial crisis.” * We should all […]

House Republicans, both the leadership and rank-and-file members, are not unaware of their circumstances. After massive wins in the 2010 midterms, GOP officials started 2011 with high hopes. Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan. Republicans have seen their popularity deteriorate; they’ve failed to persuade much of anyone as to the value of their policy […]

Media Matters has, on more than one occasion, documented the extent to which Sunday morning shows rely heavily on Republican guests. This week, Roll Call took a crack at it, referencing its own database of lawmakers’ television appearances. Not surprisingly, Roll Call found, “If you were watching the major Sunday morning talk shows last year, […]

To get an edge in advance of Florida’s Republican presidential primary, Mitt Romney has gone after Newt Gingrich this week on his ties to Freddie Mac. At first blush, it’s not a bad move; Gingrich is clearly vulnerable on the subject. But Romney may not have thought the attacks all the way through. According to […]

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) not only believes his caucus will keep its majority in the next Congress, but told Politico yesterday he expects the Republican House majority to last a decade. Is it because GOP officials will impress voters and earn the public’s trust? No, according to Boehner, it’s because his party has been […]

Probably the biggest surprise in Mitt Romney’s limited tax-return disclosure was the revelation about a Swiss bank account. Given the bigger picture — including Romney’s cash in the Cayman Islands — this new angle isn’t helping the Republican’s campaign. According to the former governor’s aides, Romney had $3 million in his Swiss account, held at […]

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * In Florida, a new Quinnipiac poll shows Mitt Romney’s lead over Newt Gingrich shrinking to just two points, 36% to 34%, after the former governor led by 12 points a couple […]

On the surface, there are all kinds of intimidating challenges facing the country. Just below the surface, there are deep partisan and ideological divisions, fueled in part by Republicans’ refusal to compromise, that make policymaking difficult, if not impossible. But just below that is another problem: a dysfunctional system and broken institutions that make the […]