"Even those that like to think of themselves as 'fiscal conservatives' must know that it is dangerous to confuse the public on this issue. Doing so could see them running against opponents that will pledge not to raise it. I'd think it would be a lose-lose situation for both parties to give this legs"
I'd say today offically marks it as a "lose-lose" situation. I plan on making hay though and buying some sagging blue chips.
I think the increasingly dysfunctional nature of government and politics in America is another problem we can probably lay at the feet of News Corp. America is split right down the middle basically between those who consume News Corp backed ideology and those who don't. At this point, the Republican Party is basically the party of News Corp. How do you fight that influence? How do you attempt to get reason and compromise back into politics when you're faced with an organization like News Corp that wields such power over the discourse and clearly has no qualms about using it?