Saved from the memory hole

The Congresscritters in the District of Columbia are professional spinmeisters, every last one of 'em, but here's something you don't hear every day in "debates" about economic policy such as those resurfacing now that Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire. I pulled it from comments by a reader named Jim at the Ace of Spades blog. Jim's insight was flagged by Laura W., and no wonder:

"I think NOW would be a good time to remind people that the ONLY reason those tax cuts are sunsetting is because Democrats filibustered making them permanent in the first place.

Republicans had to pass the tax cuts through reconciliation as a budget measure which means that they had to sunset per the rules of reconciliation because Democrats refused to even make them IN THE FIRST PLACE.

So yeah, let's TALK about the sunsetting of those tax cuts. I, for one, WELCOME the discussion."

While we're pondering economic issues, let's not forget some lessons that pundit Chris Matthews refused to learn or the bogus job numbers that the White House insists on attributing to stimulus spending. It might also help to remember the moral distinction between simple negligence and outright sabotage.

UPDATE: Nice Deb has a roundup of news about the new Chevy Volt, which fits here because it doesn't make a lot of economic sense.