A Liberal Wit Builds Bridges to the G.O.P. Many say they also respect his zest for cutting a deal and, indeed, Mr. Frank still hopes to reach one on the housing legislation. To appeal to the White House, he has made numerous revisions, including dropping a plan to have the government serve as a clearinghouse for auctioning bundles of refinanced mortgages… What vexes the administration, at times, is that he also holds strong liberal feelings about what he views as the government’s top obligations...

In Vote Like Thy Neighbor William Galston and Pietro Nivola bring to me some new insight on the reason for the partisan divide. And some realism about the remedies. …41 percent of the voters in 1984 were located at or near the midpoint of the ideological spectrum, compared with only 28 percent in 2004. Meanwhile, the percentage of voters clustering toward the left and right tails of the spectrum rose from 10 to 23 percent. They describe how people are increasingly likely to live near people...

Governor Paterson’s Forgotten Agenda It is heartbreaking when those who know better and have worked their entire lives for change fade in the clutch. It shows the almost insurmountable power of self interest to veto what everyone knows in their heart is reasonable, fair and necessary. This saga also illustrates why even though I am in sympathy with much of the liberal agenda I can’t bring my self to commit to the Democratic Party. It is just as likely to lose site of the reason for power...

Obama Eager to Campaign With McCain. Newt Gingrich, who has advocated this, will stand up and cheer. It makes me shake with anticipation… Obama is receptive to the idea of a debate roadshow with McCain. This would seem to benefit Obama by introducing him to a wider audience and contrasting him with the older and less rhetorically artful McCain. But beyond the contrast of candidates it is an exciting opportunity to engage in a sustained discussion of various world views by ideologically...

This Wall Street Journal piece on America’s Race to the Middle After Years of Gridlock,Campaign ‘08 May Yield A New Political Center is an optimistic look at the ways in which the political process may be moving more towards cooperation. It seems to me that a few adjustments to campaign finance and redistricting can accelerate the movement of the pendulum back towards the middle. Ms. Vanderslice is part of a new wave of younger activists willing to reach across party lines for the causes...

The Carpetbagger Report has a piece on Churches to put their tax status on the line for the GOP? Apparently some conservative churches want to be politically active AND keep their tax exempt status. I hope this issue provokes a serious reconsideration of the rationale for special tax treatment. I have never been much of a fan of the idea of tax exempt status. It seems to me that these organizations use the resources of the community as much as anyone else: Police, Fire, EMS, Street maintenance,...

In The Conservative Revival David Brooks explores the lessons the GOP could learn from their conservative colleagues in the UK. “The British conservative renovation begins with this insight: The central political debate of the 20th century was over the role of government. The right stood for individual freedom while the left stood for extending the role of the state. But the central debate of the 21st century is over quality of life. In this new debate, it is necessary but insufficient to...

Eighty percent of success is showing up. – Woody Allen Living in the State capitol I was able to mosey on by a meeting of Legislators and party activists charged with revising the 2006 Texas Democratic Party Platform. Among those present were a former State Speaker of the House and other former Committee Chairmen. Since my special interest is reform of campaigns and elections I raised my hand to be on a committee of 5 to revise the section of the platform focused on “Protecting Democracy”...

I try to pace out my comments about Campaign Finance Reform to avoid burning out the few of you folks who care. But when the Wall Street Journal, the newspaper to the people who run the world, writes an editorial on the subject I can’t let that just go by without a comment from a Moderate Voice. In The Reformers Who Ruined Politics the Journal vents that regulation is undermining freedom of speech and giving advantage to the liberal interest groups. If this campaign proves anything, it is...

Newt Gingrich has credibility on how to fix the GOP since he has done it before. He just sent out My Plea to Republicans: It’s Time for Real Change to Avoid Real Disaster He observes the dropping confidence of the public in the GOP and suggests policy initiatives that might connect with enough voters to head off some election loses. Part of his alarm may be that once the Democrats get control of government and implement improvements to Health Care, Energy, Immigration, etc it may solidify...

The Wall Street Journal reports that the DNC Is Low on Cash While donations to Democrats in general are at record levels, the Democratic National Committee finds itself bringing in less than specific focus entities such as the charismatic presidential candidates, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. I suspect that the average political donor is trying to get their funds as close as possible to the front lines of the political campaigns...

Court upholds NC’s public financing of judicial campaigns “You can’t restrict the flow of that dirty money. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t add clean money to match it” The court had struck down limits on third party campaigns as, I assume, a limit on free speech. But they also validated the existence of public funding of campaigns. The remaining challenge is legislation to close the gap between the funding of competing candidates so that special interests...

Hat tip “Just $6″ blog Public Funding in the Granite State? Stay Tuned. Governor John Lynch (D-NH) will sign legislation next month appointing a seven member commission to examine and recommend options to establish a system of public funding of elections.

Florida bill repealing public campaign finance likely won’t see vote – Thanks to a Republican Committee Chairman! Almost every time you notice our government being unwise it can be traced back to a public policy distorted by the influence of a special interest. “This is an unwise use of taxpayers’ dollars,” Hays said. “Think of all the good that $11 million could do for women and children in a budget year like this.” Villalobos flatly rejected the argument....

Paterson Says No to Public Campaign Financing For Now ALBANY, NEW YORK Governor David Paterson threw cold water on reform advocate’s efforts to advance public campaign finance reform, saying with the worsening fiscal situation, it’s not the time to provide public money. Advocates for the public financing of campaigns were in Albany to promote a bill that would provide public dollars to candidates running for office. The bill had been previously sponsored in the legislature by Governor...

After I watched Rev Wright on Bill Moyer’s on Friday I was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was collateral damage in a political war. Then he spoke to the National Press Club today and squandered much of this goodwill. And I feel as disappointed as Andrew Sullivan, and agree that it appears necessary for Senator Obama to speak out to put more distance between his Pastor and his own personal beliefs.

The New York Times reports the 6-3 decision to this controversial issue. As I understand it those who presume to represent the disadvantaged have resisted Voter Identification because they consider it an unreasonable barrier to voting access. Those supporting Voter ID maintain that in these modern times a requirement to have a photo ID is not unreasonable or unusual. Between the lines is the issue that the disadvantaged tend to vote Democratic. I tend to favor Democrats at this time but I agree...

h/t Mickey Kaus at Slate “McCain will have trouble beating the Obama who showed up on Fox News Sunday, giving a highly effective interview to Chris Wallace. It included this bait for Hillary: “I think there are a whole host of areas where Republicans in some cases may have a better idea.” Obama cited not just “merit pay” but also “experimenting with charter schools,”… I am refreshed by transpartisan thought, and spirit, that seeks out the optimal solution...

Blogs are a convenient outlet for venting outrage. Reading so many I find it hard to spread my passion in so many directions and I often become numb to the steady flow of crisis. Then mainly for my mental health I try to shift focus to ponder constructive responses to our challenges. I often wonder if the two party system is irretrievably broken and that special interests are so entrenched that pragmatic, open minded, reasonable deliberation and action is no longer possible. I consider the need for...

Vermont House Approves National Popular Vote bill House Republicans reverse course, object to fair elections

I watched the one hour Bill Moyers interview with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and came away impressed with the Reverend and disappointed that he has been so abused by the media. To me, in context, the Reverend is passionate, articulate, reasonable and accurate. His comment about “God Dam America” makes sense to me as a condemnation of the selfish and vicious policies of our country that were often justified as with God’s blessing. He was expressing the startling conflict between the promise...

This Group is representing the public in next week’s congressional debate about the treatment of passengers. Recently the courts struck down passenger protections offered by states because this is a federal issue. It is now up to the Congress. The Airline lobby would like to have as little responsibility for passenger inconvenience as they can get away with. If you have flown in the last few years supporting and funding this group is a way to channel your frustration.

The Second in Series of Bipartisan Congressional Debates to Focus on Health Care will take place April 28 and will be live streamed. I watched the first of these debates and it is refreshing to enjoy a sustained partisan discussion relatively free of posturing and mere sound bites. It gives a glimpse of how a closed door negotiation might begin. And it gives a glimpse of how such negotiations might progress if the representatives were relatively free of pressure from partisans and special interests.

John Stossel offers some useful perspective in his column The Sky’s Not Falling. His point of view is that using the terms “Crisis” and “Disaster” regarding the credit situation is a bit of an overreaction and may be motivated by an inclination to impose regulation on the free market. I value this point of view in much the same way I appreciate libertarians like Rep. Ron Paul. They play an essential role in a deliberative process by asking if doing nothing is better...

Since I recently wrote a post dissing the GOP’s commitment to managing the budget I want to offer a modest atonement by acknowledging the White House for taking a position to reduce the cap on how much farm subsidy one entity can receive. Regarding the proposed Farm Bill One White House proposal is to deny crop subsidies to anyone with an adjusted gross income above $500,000 a year, compared to the current limit of $2.5 million AGI. That Democrats propose such high subsidies, and the GOP may...