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In a discussion of Republican opposition to raising the debt ceiling the NYT tells readers:

“This time is different …. some freshmen in both chambers say they worry more about changing the ways of Washington than about getting re-elected.”

How is this “different”? Politicians always claim that they care more about their principles than getting re-elected. How many politicians proclaim that they will abandon every principle to get re-elected (even if it is true)? There is little in the description of the freshman Republicans discussed in the article that could not have been applied to hundreds of politicians over the last three decades. If these politicians are really different, the article does not explain how.