Phil cashes it in. Sayonara, Phil.

Phil Gramm is quitting as co-chairman of Ace's presidential campaign. That's a tough break. Conservatism has been the nation's dominant political philosophy since 1980, and the Republicans have been the dominant political party over the same time period. That's 28 years of deregulation, tax cuts, military muscle-flexing, and all the other stuff that conservative Republicans do, piled and stacked and piled some more, and all leading us to the point we're at today. Here we are, and someday books will be written about how it happened and Phil Gramm's name will come up in every chapter of every one of those books. Phil spent most of his adult life on some public payroll somewhere, and still managed to amass substantial personal wealth. I don't know how he pulled it off, but I imagine there was some shady dealing taking place at different stops along the way. Phil's not a native Texan, but is one of those transplants that contributed to the stereotype. Hasta la vista, baby.