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.

This week's developments have been notable--less because the reauth effort is likely to go anywhere, and more because they offer a clarifying look at where things stand.

In the latest AEI Political Report, the AEI Politics team looks at at the new phase of 2012 campaign from a variety of angles. 

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In a federal republic, in which none of the GOP candidates on the stage at the Tea Party/CNN debate are currently members of the Senate, and the only two members of the House are backbenchers who often cast lonely votes in dissent, where the candidates come from and what they have had to or have chosen to do makes a significant difference, and becomes a target for opponents.

Most observers agree that the Hazare movement has awakened the traditionally inward-looking Indian middle class to a public cause. Now the newly awakened need to go a step further and start voting, running for office, and backing candidates who embody their values.

We all deserve blame for the S&P downgrade. This is a national foul-up of historic proportions, and no party or constituency can completely avoid culpability.

Two recent, seemingly unrelated events weigh heavily on the question of whether America will remain able to protect its national security or languish in failed policies and a federal debt crisis that has led to our credit rating being downgraded.

The reported debt-limit deal appears to be a victory for the Tea Party: no tax increases, a new precedent that debt-limit hikes must be accompanied by equal or greater cuts in spending, and the potential for a balanced budget in 10 years.