On the front of Politico is an article about how the big bipartisan deals that used to be relatively common in Congress now appear to be a thing of the past. Good bye and good riddance. At their core these bipartisan deals were and are about destroying basic democratic accountability.

This is the danger, the follow-on to the American Jobs Act. As Jon Walker reported, there are signs of support for raising the Medicare retirement age coming from a variety of corners, including the American Hospital Association, who are trying to save themselves from trigger cuts on reimbursement rates by sticking it to 65 and 66 year-olds. The report from Ways and Means Committee Democrats that included raising the eligibility age as an option is bad news too.

Let me show you some fun with polling.

Pew asked a question that reflects what Barack Obama put forward in last night’s address: whether or not, in the debt limit debate, members of Congress should compromise to solve the problem. And 68% said yes, with just 23% saying that lawmakers should “stand by their principles, even if it means the government goes into default.”

The main goal here for the President was to isolate House Republicans as an uncompromising group of extremists who will stop at nothing to harm the ordinary working man in an effort to save the ill-gotten gains of the ultra-rich. But the problem is that this rhetorical flourish is in service to a position that moves us to an era of austerity, a path of major deficit reduction without shared sacrifice, which is likely to strike at the heart of the social safety net created and sustained by Democrats over the past 80 years.

Steve Benen had a look at Barack Obama’s last lecture, and let’s just say he had a different reaction.

One of the more constant critiques of this Presidency is that Barack Obama has failed to teach a generation of willing listeners a story about his beliefs and his values, something that will outlast his term in office and provide a blueprint for the future. This isn’t true. He’s teaching a fundamental lesson. It just may not be one that progressives value.

With news of the “hybrid” plan coming out of the Senate, all of us have to be wondering “What is the White House thinking?!?” Here is a little run down of just that.

I talked to Franken via phone today, as he returned home from a funeral for a soldier killed overseas. His remarks tomorrow are really connected to the fear that we are seeing a flickering out of the American dream. “We have the greatest disparity in income since the 1920s. The middle class dream is fading, and we’re losing the argument on the economy. We need to gain back the initiative, and convince people that it’s ridiculous to be gutting Medicare, to essentially end it, in order to give huge tax cuts.”

This week, I am at Netroots Nation #6 in Minneapolis, and I had planned to bring you a video all about one of the themes I saw running through the first day of panels, speeches and briefings. . . I had planned to bring you video, but I am only here through Sunday and that is probably not enough time to upload my usual eight-or-so minutes because the speed of the internet connection here is pre-millennial. . . again.

If you really want more bipartisanship, the only real solution is to promote more viable political parties.