The New Republic

For years, Grover Norquist has been one of the right’s strictest disciplinarians on matters of taxes and spending. So naturally, with Congress on the verge of forcing Internet retailers to collect billions in state sales taxes, Norquist is denouncing the move as an assault on freedom. “Do you really believe there is a limit to the amount of abuse an Alabama tax collector can hurl on a New York or California or Maine business?” he recently said on Fox Business. READ MORE >>

Denial, then anger. No, I’m not talking about the well-known stages of grief. I’m talking about the way conservatives are reacting to budget sequestration, now that its automatic cuts have hit the Federal Aviation Administration. The reaction says a lot about conservative values, their grasp of policy reality, or maybe both. READ MORE >>

If you’re reading this item while you’re stuck at the airport, don’t start cursing your airline just yet. The real culprit may be the sequester. READ MORE >>

This is a weird moment in American politics. The sequester has just chopped $43 billion out of this year's defense budget and Republicans are pretending not to care. READ MORE >>

The sequestration impasse is so obviously the Republicans' fault that the punditocracy, which can't abide an obvious and unchanging story line, is trying hard to invent a new one that blames President Obama. READ MORE >>

The automatic budget cuts of "sequestration" are starting to take effect, but most Americans probably aren't going to notice right away. The lines at the airport won't be longer on Saturday and the border gates to Canada and Mexico won't suddenly fling open. Officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and inspectors from the Agriculture Department aren't walking off the job. Come Monday, parents will be able to send their kids to Head Start and college students will be able to get their loans processed, just as they always have. READ MORE >>

Gene Sperling once intimidated me.  READ MORE >>

With $85 billion in budget cuts set to take effect Friday, when the sequester kicks in, there's been plenty of debate about whether the economy will spiral back into a recession. In search of some clarity, The New Republic asked economists from across the political spectrum a simple question, "Will the sequester start another recession?" The answers were a bit more complicated.It could. And either way, it's dumb policy. READ MORE >>

Of all the sequestration pink slips about to be handed down from Washington, the one for programs to vaccinate children seems particularly shortsighted. Sure, there are several other candidates for worst idea ever, from education cuts to defense cuts. But with childhood vaccinations, we have not only the emotional tug (our darling babies!) but also financial reality: Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective preventative strategies in health care, saving billions of dollars a year. READ MORE >>

David Brooks is nothing if not gracious. On Friday, the bespectacled and occasionally besieged New York Times columnist had a tantrum, or what qualifies for a tantrum by his mild-mannered standards. He did so by criticizing President Obama for failing to provide leadership in the debate over the sequester and fiscal priorities. READ MORE >>