There Are No GOP Moderates

EJ is on point - and hit on something Yglesias points out nearly every day - and that is this: there are zero "Moderate" Republicans in Congress (well, maybe Olympia Snowe) and therefore the term "moderate" and "centrist" have no meaning. All of the moderate GOP'ers were thrown out of office last cycle, so only "true" Republicans remain. Unfortunately Congress can be a bunch of pansies, and instead of making sure that their policies are actually smart, they'd rather cover their tush by making it "bipartisan" to spread the blame in case the effort fails (ironically, in some cases compromising on ideals makes a bill more likely to fail!). Therefore, they need "centrists" to get on board .... the problem?...you guessed it: there are no moderates left. So, all the "real" Republicans get labled "moderate" and get their ideas thrown into the mix (giving them - the minority party who lost the election and who is at odds with non-southern public opinion - a disproportionate power in negotiations) simply in the name of "bipartisanship."

Suggestion: lets forget about who signs onto bills and whether they "reached out" or made it a "bipartisanly bad bill" ... and just enact policies ... if they work, we'll vote for you, if not - hit the road, Jack.