Here is another good news/bad news column about the 112th Congress.

In the midst of the current financial crisis, the U.S. has experiencednumerous specific changes in regulatory rules and procedures and seen aproliferation of ad hoc and non-transparent programs. These actions havedramatically expanded the bounds of agency discretion and governmentcontrol of financial institutions.

Under current law, the U.S. Department of Defense automatically faces significant spending cuts over the next 10 years—cuts that america's civilian and military leaders have cadidly described as "devastating" and "very high risk."

The primary drivers of our growing debt burden are the “Big 3” entitlements of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Yet as part of the debt ceiling deal that created sequestration when the Super Committee failed, politicians effectively fenced off nearly two-thirds of the federal budget and the main source of our over-spending. 

President Obama’s latest ploy is a student lending policy that teaches a new generation of college-goers that government is there to provide free stuff.

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.

There’s good reason to believe the relationship between Romney and the Tea Party-driven congressional Republicans will be exceptional only in the severity of its uneasiness. This is not an example of passionate matrimony, but a mere wedding of convenience—and it’s safe to say the honeymoon won’t last long.