Whereas liberals are thought to erupt self-righteously whenever they feel like it, conservatives believe that they themselves are never permitted to say what they really think.

Is Wall Street the rightful master of our economic fate? Or should we choose a broader form of sovereignty?

I think there's great potential for autonomy, but we have to remember that we live in a world where people may have free will but have not invented their circumstances.

I was in a bad mood when I wrote that.

Acknowledging class was always difficult for 'New Democrats' - it was second-wave, it was divisive - but 2008 made retro politics cool again.

Under the administration of George W. Bush, you will recall, federal spending grew pretty significantly. At the same time, the number of people directly employed by the federal government shrank. One of the factors that explained the difference was contracting.

I was never a fan of Barack Obama's bipartisanship routine.