Thanks for the encouraging words, hrh. I've encountered them here before. I believe it was ondelette who said, "It's always darkest until the night before the oral defense." Yep. I've completed the course work, passed the prelims, passed the field exams (monetary theory and international trade), did the proposal defense, the data construction, the review of the lit, the methodology chapter, and I've generated empirical results - *all* I have to do is knit these blessed pieces together with some results, and an appendix (unfortunately, I constructed my own version of the "Romer dates"). You'd think from here it would be easy. Not so much, after all. But, I press on because I am either too conditioned, too stubborn, or too stupid, to stop. You are correct about the hazing. Unfortunately, I caught on to that a little too soon for my own good. But, thanks! I'll suck up encouragement wherever I can find it. The only way out lies forward!

FWIW: Something found at CrookedTimber. (Paraphrasing) "If you're at the stage where you are thinking about a PhD, go lie down until the feeling passes." Economically/Financially speaking, it's good advice. The empirical research backs that up. Unfortunately, I know that, too. C'est la vie, non?

Thanks for that piece by Mario Cuomo, RMP. He is, of course, correct. If only we had a Congress that was equal to the constitution, eh?

An excerpt from TalkingPointsMemo. We can count on the Democrats to be squeamish on Iraq (can't you just imagine on Iran?). And, we can count on the Republicans to block everything the Dems aren't too squeamish about. Such a deal.

10.07.07 -- 3:56PM // http://tinyurl.com/2t3h86

A new 'Gang'?

Progress on most major policy initiatives has been difficult in the Senate this year, due entirely to the fact that the chamber's Republicans have decided to filibuster practically everything that moves. Indeed, the Senate GOP is on track to block more legislation in the 110th Congress than any in history -- filibustering at triple the usual rate.

According to a report in Roll Call the other day, some of the same Republicans who've been blocking bills are working on a plan to improve the way the Senate does business.

In what could be a new incarnation of the successful bipartisan "Gang of 14," Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) hosted a meeting this week with a handful of the Senate's most notable compromisers to figure out how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamber's progress this year.

About half a dozen moderate and independent-minded Republicans and at least one Democrat -- Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) -- participated in the Members-only huddle, which was held quietly in Lott's Capitol office Tuesday morning. Afterward, few Senators offered much detail, but several said there's a feeling among them that the narrowly divided chamber no longer can operate at an impasse and they want to find ways to avoid the growing number of filibusters sidelining Senate legislation this year.

I don't doubt that this is the kind of initiative that will make David Broder swoon, but this whole endeavor strikes me as kind of silly. If Senate Republicans want to help unclog the gridlock they can stop blocking legislation. It's not rocket science.

Indeed, it's kind of ironic that Trent Lott would even be involved in this. In April, he was the one boasting, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail ... and so far it's working for us."

All of a sudden, though, they're interested in starting to move legislation again. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who has supported nearly all of the GOP filibusters, said, "We're all impacted by the failure of being able to do the things that people sent us here to do." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) added, "We need to get back to being a deliberative body."

It's mystifying. These guys are making it sound as if there's some kind of mysterious hurdle standing in the way of legislative progress. There isn't. They don't want popular, progressive legislation to pass, and they don't want to generate dozens of presidential vetoes, so they're blocking legislation on everything from Iraq to habeas to voting rights.

If they want to stop, they should stop. If they're tired of the gridlock, they can end the filibusters. If they want to deliberate, they can debate the merit of legislation and then vote, up or down, on whether they support the bills or not.

There's no need for a new "gang" or "working group." There's simply a need for the Senate minority to stop standing in the way of every important bill that comes to the floor.

I thought Cuomo's point was well taken. Congress cannot punt the decision to go to war to Bush and Cheney. They can create a smoke screen that one needs to see through, but the responsibility is theirs. And, it couldn't be more clear than the American electorate wants no part of that.... for all the good the wishes of the voters might do. Looks to me like some Republicans (Lott comes to mind) are looking for a back-door excuse. Gotta remember, if it isn't specifically Bill Clinton's fault, then it's the Democrats fault. Always.

We'll call it the thomas c award:

God knows its the only kinda balls a chickenhawk has.

Now, that was funny! So, today's thomas c award goes to none other than thomas c!