As gas prices head towards $4 a barrel, some politicians, as Rev. Jeremiah Wright would say, "do what politicians do" and propose a gas-tax holiday. Only there's one small problem with this tax cut: The oil companies are likely to pocket most of it. We've seen it happen before.

What could David Broder possibly be drinking? Has he forgotten the John McCain who voted against the Bush tax cuts, but now embraces them — or the McCain who could have blocked the administration's torture policies, but instead empowered Bush to define torture — just to “prevail” in the “contest” for the Republican nomination? The commentariat will have to choose between their affection for McCain and their commitment to common sense. Their choice should be instructive. If they follow Broder's example, that will be the Democrats' worst nightmare.

As gas prices head towards $4 a barrel, some politicians, as Rev. Jeremiah Wright would say, "do what politicians do" and propose a gas-tax holiday. Only there's one small problem with this tax cut: The oil companies are likely to pocket most of it. We've seen it happen before.

What could David Broder possibly be drinking? Has he forgotten the John McCain who voted against the Bush tax cuts, but now embraces them — or the McCain who could have blocked the administration's torture policies, but instead empowered Bush to define torture — just to “prevail” in the “contest” for the Republican nomination? The commentariat will have to choose between their affection for McCain and their commitment to common sense. Their choice should be instructive. If they follow Broder's example, that will be the Democrats' worst nightmare.

Sen. John McCain this week delivered what the campaign billed as a major address on the economy. And while McCain says he understands people are hurting, he hasn’t allowed this to clutter his thinking. He just recycles the old platitudes of the market fundamentalists.

The heart of the Roosevelt coalition in the 1930s became the.heart of the conservative coalition that dominated our politics over the last 30 years. Progressives now have to make the case to these voters that government can work.

High gasoline prices, mortgage foreclosures, turmoil in financial markets, and a war in Iraq that is ever more costly in money and lives. So the President of the United States steps up to the crisis and demands a fast-track vote from the Congress in 90 days on … a trade agreement with Colombia. It's an insulting debate taking place as if we were still living in Ronald Reagan's “morning in America.”