If ever we need evidence of ideology run rampant, the House vote to eliminate the annual American Community Survey and the Economic Census to provide basic information on the state of businesses and industries in the country and data used for generating quarterly gross domestic product estimates is exhibit A.

America is eroding its social infrastructure, the nation's last competitive advantage.

By delaying retail foreign direct investment, the Indian government has protected the intermediary status quo, and ignored the plight of 500 million desperately poor Indians living on farms who have publicly voiced their support of allowing retail giants to enter the Indian market.

Obama is hardly alone in his effort to mythologize China in order to justify expansion of government. Obviously, China’s a formidable economic player, and a growing military and diplomatic power. But only a fool would trade our problems for theirs.

The failure of the Congressional Super Committee means that major economic policy decisions are likely to wait for 2013. The government will be funded and not bump up against the debt ceiling, and perhaps some modest initiatives might go forward such as renewing payroll tax cuts or extended unemployment insurance benefits.

Political dysfunction. Partisanship at record levels. Attack politics run amok. And public approval of Congress scraping the single digits (Sen. John McCain is fond of saying it's down to blood rlatives and paid staff).

President Obama and his team came into office insisting that they were on top of things and above mere ideological considerations. They were wrong.

The current financial crisis is an entirely political phenomenon, caused by bad regulation and overcome only by the reestablishment of an institutional system based on responsibility and on the assumption of reasonable risk.