Trouble on the Home Front

Krugman: "The argument over Social Security privatization isn't about rival views on how to secure the program's future - even the administration admits that private accounts would do nothing to help the system's finances. It's a debate about what kind of society America should be."
"It isn't always bad politics to say things that aren't true and claim to support things you actually oppose: just look at who's running the country. But Democrats who engage in these tactics right now create big problems for a party that has been given a special chance - maybe its last chance - to remind the country of what Democrats stand for, and why." [NYT]

We need to frame this debate over Social Security, and over the budget. We may be the minority party, but we also have to get our message out, and actually tell people what we stand for, not just republican-lite (this means you Joementum!).
See also: [Kos] [Nelson Amendment]

(Lack of) Ethics in the House: "Mr. DeLay was reprimanded for excessive power plays three times last year by the torpid ethics committee - an unusual initiative for that body, which led directly to the panel's being purged and manacled by new rules to block future inquiries. Speaker Hastert should scrap those rules for a truly honest and unhindered ethical process, or risk paying the price next year before the voters. Opportunistic Democrats are already vowing to boycott the hamstrung ethics panel. The longer House members remain investigation-proof, the more their ethical dead zone will redound to Speaker Hastert's discredit, as much as to Mr. DeLay's." [NYT]
More on dumping DeLay: "But without changing the party divisions on the Committee -- a move that would almost certainly trigger more outrage than the Republican Conference would care to entertain -- the even split between Republicans and Democrats has been enough to block the adoption of the rules changes that the GOP House majority attempted to force. In its place, however, there are no rules. Which means there's no ethics process. Which means that the emerging details of DeLay's continuing battle with his ethics demons will go uninvestigated by the House. What luck, eh?" [Kos] [IsoIncident] [The Stakeholder] [WP] [DeLay Rule]