Deregulator: Alive since '85!

Calling Lord Acton An engaging debate between Matt Ygelesias and Mickey Kaus about unions, prevailing wages, Katrina reconstruction and what this all means for the Democratic Party. Yglesias says up front he knows nothing about the Davis-Bacon Act (which mandates that workers on government contracts get union wages), and it shows. That said, it's refreshing to see this debate unfold among Democratic public intellectuals, even if it's unlikely to reach the cerebral cortexes of, say, Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi. Since the 2000 election, Bush-religious right-conservative-Republican hatred has poisoned the national Democratic Party, relegating constructive discussions about policy issues, even in the abstract, to the dustbin of history. (As Mickey points out, even the "centrist" Democratic Leadership Council has become a sorry mouthpiece for the party's reflexive left.) The problem with this policy vacuum is that the Republican Party has, by default, emerged as t...

Terminal planning At TechCentralStation, Frederick Turner offers a fascinating explanation of why the Iraqi resistance is getting more lethal, even though the casualties increasingly wind up being Muslims. (Hint: Michael Moore's suggestion that Zarqawi resembles, say, Patrick Henry fares none too well.) Meantime, Nick Schulz locates the architect of HillaryCare, taking up residence at the Clinton Global Initiative. That's bad news for the developing world, not just Western taxpayers. Check 'em out.