One of the first lessons of covering the White House is that it’s never as nimble, shrewd, or savvy as it appears in victory or as clumsy, inept, and chaotic as it appears in defeat. Indulging in either absolute “frame” is often reckless and stupid. However, White House power is both vast and intricate. A White House can see an issue coming, set a plan in motion, and gain ground—exactly as it intended.

The jobs fight behind the numbers proves good economic news is in the eye of the beholder.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has now lost the Florida primary, and with that defeat he must ask himself what role he will play as a self-described antiestablishment insurgent.

Welcome to the age of volatility.

In 1995, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich banned proxy votes in committees. That meant no longer could powerful chairmen (for 40 years previous, all Democrats) cast votes for lawmakers who skipped out on the marking-up of legislation.

It’s time for jargon and acronyms, that classic end-of-the-year game on Capitol Hill where serious policy is treated as farce. Here’s an example: The fate of the SGR “fix” might or might not be tied to the timing of the AMT “patch,” and both could influence the fate of UI.

These are difficult and troubled times.

When I left the White House beat to cover Congress, I told people what the biggest difference was between the two beats. People in the White House and Congress lie to you, I would say; the difference is that on the Hill it’s not the same lie told by the same seven people.

Failure, it turns out, is an option. In fact, it sounds more and more like an imperative.

CLASS dismissed.