Democracy in America

"SOME times" tweeted Rick Santorum, not at all credibly, "I hate it when what I predict comes true." Mr Santorum, a once and doubtless future presidential candidate from the social-conservative wing of the Republican Party, was referring to the ruling by a federal judge that found part of Utah's law prohibiting polygamy unconstitutional. Mr Santorum and others of his ilk warned that legalising same-sex marriage would inevitably lead to legalising polygamy. And at first blush, it appears that those warnings have come true.

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JAMES MADISON “would be aghast” at America’s vast surveillance programmes. So said Richard Leon, a federal judge hearing a challenge to their constitutionality. On December 16th he issued a blistering 68-page critique, calling the technology used by the National Security Agency (NSA) “almost Orwellian” and ordering it to stop collecting the telephone records of two plaintiffs.

Though Mr Leon stayed his ruling pending an appeal, it has set pulses racing in Washington.

IS INEQUALITY the "defining issue of our time", as Barack Obama said in a speech last week? Ezra Klein thinks not; unemployment and slow growth, he writes, are clearly bigger problems at the moment. This certainly seems true...unless you are poor or working-class. Because this is the whole crux of the inequality argument: recent history, at least since the 2002 recovery began, suggests that unless you are rich, GDP growth isn't doing much to raise your income anymore. And the trend seems to be getting worse: since the 2009 recovery started, 95% of GDP growth has been captured by the top 1%.

IS MIKE HUCKABEE'S contract with Fox up for renewal? Does he want a new deal with Cumulus, the company that broadcast Mr Huckabee's radio show, which he just quit? Is he feeling lonely, forlorn, out of the loop, too far from the madding crowd? Because any one of those things would be rational, sensible explanation for the torrent of stories suggesting Mr Huckabee is pondering a presidential run in 2016. What would not be a rational, sensible explanation for those stories is Mr Huckabee actually considering a run for president.

SAN FRANCISCO is flourishing, but skyrocketing house prices are spooking locals. With the technology-led boom showing no signs of slowing, the city is struggling with its success

FIRST it was the $4 slice of toast. Then the sort-of fake Google bus protest. Today, the dunderheaded start-up executive. Like zits on the face of a pubescent teenager, San Francisco's growing pains regularly erupt in unexpected places. Unlike those zits, they are not easily treated. The rise in house prices in the city may be slowing, slightly, but while techies continue to flock to the Bay Area and San Francisco's unusually sophisticated breed of NIMBYs refuse to countenance an easing of the city's restrictive zoning laws, the laws of supply and demand will continue to work their magic.

A DUSTING of snow, which soon turned to rain, shut down much of Washington, DC on December 10th. Grey slush on the sidewalks made the buildings that house those government agencies not blessed with familiar acronyms look even more Soviet than they usually do. The wonkishly minded waited for news from the budget conference headed by Senator Patty Murray for the Democrats and Congressman Paul Ryan (pictured) for the Republicans, which was rumoured to have reached a deal. At around six o’clock it came, a seemingly impossible mix of modest deficit cuts, spending rises and revenues magically raised without corresponding tax increases.