Quote of the Day

Kevin Drum finds it.

From Rep. David Obey (D–Wisc.), soon to retire after 40 years in Congress, on his biggest regret:

I think our biggest failure collectively has been our failure to stop the ripoff of the middle class by the economic elite of this country, and this is not just something that happened because of the forces of the market.

I agree with Kevin that for all the Obama administration has acheived, it's barely chipped the system. But I'd add that I think people look too much to the executive office to fix it.

The President certainly has a role in advocating for change and maybe Obama hasn't deployed his rhetorical power enough but when I review the events, I'm seeing the problem as largely resting in our Senate. The House has done a lot these last 18 or so months but their work has been subverted time and time again by the entrenched prima donnas using the archaic rules of their privileged little club to waste time in furtherance of their own interests. [via Steve Hynd]

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]