Link.

And so-called liberals? They tend to be anti-gun and pro-choice on abortion. They favor big, powerful government — they say — to make life kinder for people.

By contrast, libertarians want government to leave people alone — in both the economic and personal spheres. Leave us free to pursue our hopes and dreams, as long as we don’t hurt anybody else.

Ironically, that used to be called “liberal,” which has the same root as “liberty.”

Ever the innovator, David Cameron has ensured that one of the sacred tenets of conventional political wisdom has already been reversed before the 2010 campaign is even 24 hours old. The old saw held that oppositions didn’t win elections, governments lost them. The unwritten question on the ballot paper was meant to be: “Shall we throw the scoundrels out?” But the Conservative opposition is upending that ancient rule. Suddenly it seems as if this election is going to be all about them.

AIG, Fannie and Freddie, and the auto unions all have political pull that direct public money to private profit. When bankers have too much power, they will be able to capture the regulatory institutions and limit surveillance. They will be able to game the system so that the rules Krugman champions won’t be enforced.

Why not limit the size of banks while policing their behavior? It’s not an either/or issue. Do both.

Last week, I attacked Frank Rich’s nonsense article about race and the Tea Parties, in which he prosaically (and not-at-all-like those heavy-breathers on the right) compared recent health care protests to a famous Nazi pogrom that presaged the Holocaust. It’s always helpful when demonizing your opponent to invoke Nazism-they are that bad-but Rich’s real message was embedded in his headline: The rage is not about health care. And I suspect I won’t spoil the ending if I reveal that health care protesters are collectively motivated by race hatred.

Link.

The talk among Republicans is that their November message should focus on repealing the new health care bill – or some version of repeal and replace. Meanwhile, other analysts have suggested that Republicans risk over-reaching and appearing too aggressive.

I think this debate is misframed.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – They’ve been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement-and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation’s first black president.

Link.

Activists on both sides of the abortion debate are carefully eyeing a Nebraska bill that’s wending its way through the legislature this week. They wonder if a proposed ban might end up as the subject of the next Supreme Court abortion battle.

(CNSNews.com) – The Internal Revenue Service has launched a new global program to target what it calls “high wealth individuals,” IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said Monday.

MSNBC said Tuesday that it had suspended for an indefinite period one of its highest-profile anchors, David Shuster. The decision came days after the revelation that Mr. Shuster had participated in a test of a new show for CNN, a competing cable news channel.

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) – The Internal Revenue Service could tap individual tax returns to collect fines against people who fail to buy health insurance as required under recently enacted healthcare legislation, the U.S. tax commissioner said on Monday.

Link.

Both companies need to make large payments into the plans within the next five years – $12.3 billion by G.M. and $2.6 billion by Chrysler – to reach minimum funding levels, according to the report, prepared by the Government Accountability Office. Whether the companies will be able to make the payments is uncertain, the report concluded, though Treasury officials expect the automakers will become profitable enough to do so.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dragon-sized, fruit-eating lizard that lives in the trees on the northern Philippines island of Luzon has been confirmed as a new species, scientists reported on Tuesday.