The renewal of the Violence Against Women Act got caught up earlier this year in a partisan controversy. Republicans objected to provisions that would have expanded the anti-domestic violence protections to tribal land, undocumented immigrants and same-sex couples. Both the House and Senate passed versions of the bill that catered to their respective bases. And there didn’t seem to be much hope for a reconciliation of the various differences. Joe Biden and Dems came out strongly today for their expanded version.

It’s with some pride that I note the current strategy from Senate Democrats to let the Bush tax cuts expire and then, if necessary, come back with a more progressive tax cut later. I was calling for this in 2010, and pretty much nobody agreed, save for perhaps Tom Udall (D-NM). Two years later, it has congealed into conventional wisdom, exactly as I described it, and exactly as Sheldon Whitehouse described it to me at Netroots Nation.

The Senate did pass the farm bill yesterday, but included in the package was an amendment from Patty Murray that will force the executive branch to give more information on how they plan to handle the automatic cuts scheduled for the end of the year. And importantly, that directive does not just go to the Pentagon, but to the whole of government.

I’d like to say that the decision on restricting access to Plan B has led to a backlash in Washington. I’d like to say that female and male legislators alike lambasted the decision, which will result in more unwanted pregnancies and more abortions because paternalistic policymakers didn’t want to feel icky. But the headline “Plan B decision draws strong and mixed reaction” doesn’t really connote mass outrage. Some women’s groups have condemned the decision, yes – Planned Parenthood wants to meet with Sebelius – but the reaction has been more muted than deserved. And outside of Sen. Patty Murray, women’s advocates in Congress have given the Administration a pass.

Alex Lawson from Social Security Works answers questions about Social Security and the shameless secrecy and misplaced priorities of the Congressional Super Committee charged with reducing deficits.

Supreme Court Justices tell us not to worry, the invisible hand of the market of ideas will work to our advantage. Now, ignore that man behind the curtain with those bags of unearned and untaxed cash.

Can I have a nice lecture from Senator Murray on how it’s my duty as a citizen to vote for one or the other of the corrupt jerks they put in my face?

The Super Committee, what we’ve been calling Catfood Commission II, held its first meeting today. There wasn’t much on the agenda, just the internal governing rules of how the committee will proceed, under the direction of co-chairs Patty Murray (D-WA) and Jeb Hensarling (R-TX). Both sides are talking about compromise and the need for action, but a lot of that talk can be dismissed as empty. The fault line that’s starting to emerge is over whether job creation strategies should be part of the Super Committee’s work.

Please leave any ideas for questions to ask supercommittee members in the comments below, if I don’t get to them this time I will try again at their next meeting.

You can also call Senator Murray and Rep. Hensarling to demand they broadcast all meetings, not just the opening statements and canned speeches. Click here for phone numbers and a script.

If you think that the committee is designed to fail, these are good members to that end. If you think that the entire exercise is a ploy to cut entitlements and lessen small-d democratic accountability, you can see that at work here as well. In that sense, ultimately the specific members of the committee don’t really matter.