In the past couple of weeks, people who care about American politics and about Congress have lost two important figures: Harry McPherson and James Q. Wilson.

Government housing policies and the toxic mortgages they spawned were the sine qua non of the financial crisis.

Sen. Jim DeMint doesn’t think people much care about his presidential endorsement. But people do care--a lot.

It irritates members of both groups when I note the similarities of the Tea Party movement that swept the nation in the 2010 election and the peace movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. But they are similar.

There are 24 people who are beneficiaries of nontrivial presidential buzz, but only five are likely to emerge as true candidates.

Senator Barack Obama's now former vice presidential vetter Jim Johnson was ousted for alleged sweetheart mortgage deals.

Tea party candidates may lack polish, but some have sharper political instincts than their detractors in the press have been able to understand.

While the media has focused on the rise of the Tea Party movement and the success of conservative insurgents in GOP primaries, there is a quiet insurgency taking place under the radar of more moderate Republicans for whom fiscal discipline is not a top priority.