Notice how the Democrats are less upset about the collapse of the budget "supercommittee" than the Republicans. This is because the whole deal was stacked in their favor in the first place. The programs hardest hit by these cuts are ... you guessed it, defense.

For years, more astute observers have called the Republican Party "the Stupid Party." They again live up to the label. The poster child for that label is Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Boehner was the cheerleader for this whole deal, as recently as a week ago, insisting, "It will work, it will work." Of course it didn't, because the whole notion of a "supercommittee" solving the budget crisis that Congress as a whole refused to solve several months ago was a flawed one. 

Should the rich pay more in taxes, or not? This is always the question.

Notice how the question is never: Should the government spend less? Or: Should the government do less? Or, better yet: Should the government have less power?

In the end, the battle for the Republican nomination will be between the favorite of the conservatives/Tea Party types and Mitt Romney. Who is the favorite? First it was Michele Bachmann. Then Rick Perry. Then it was Herman Cain. Now it appears to be Newt Gingrich. These are the candidates favored by Republicans who favor a restoration of more limited government, as opposed to merely window dressing and keeping the status quo as it is. Romney is the candidate of "don't rock the boat." Candidate X -- Gingrich, at the moment -- is the candidate of, "Rock that socialist boat, at least a little."

Associated Press reports: Military action against Iran could have unintended consequences, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, sounding the administration's strongest reservations about a strike since the release of a new report on Tehran's escalating nuclear ambitions. Panetta told Pentagon reporters that he agrees with earlier assessments that a strike would only set Iran's nuclear program back by three years at most.