Americans know little about what’s in the federal budget, Bruce Bartlett reminded us late last week in a convincing piece that relied on the latest poll results. And while wanting to cut deficits and spending, the public largely opposes cuts to the particular domestic programs that dominate the budget. It’s a welcome reminder: All else …
Continue reading “Political Ignorance Threatens Deficit Reduction”
In a bitterly polarized Washington, where the two parties increasingly confront one another over issues both large and small, we have apparently reached a rare bipartisan consensus: The rising deficit is a spending problem. Republicans have been saying it for years; President Obama largely adopted their narrative in his recent State of the Union address; …
Continue reading “Sorry, the Federal Deficit Isn’t a Spending Problem”
President Obama’s move to the political center and the accompanying rise in his approval ratings is good news both for him and the country because a weak President usually means a weak nation, at home and abroad. But Obama’s tortuous path to greater popularity says something disturbing about our political system and the ability to …
Continue reading “Obama’s Shift to Center: Big Payoff at a Big Price”
Debates over taxes and spending are often about bigger things, such as the proper role of the federal government, our responsibilities as citizens to finance that government, and our obligations to care for one another. Over the last 20 years, presidents and lawmakers have debated a number of fundamental questions: Welfare reform in 1996 — …
Continue reading “Battle Looms over GOP Efforts to Remake Medicaid”
President Obama is focusing heavily on how to make progress with the new Congress on budget and tax issues, but the more logical place for him to seek early bipartisanship is on trade – specifically, on the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. The pact, which Congress must ratify, would be a winner for the president and …
Continue reading “Colombian Trade Deal: A Bipartisan Boon for Obama”
The debates of recent days over extending Bush-era tax cuts and funding government operations for 2011 make clear the contradictions within Republican fiscal policy – lower taxes and lower deficits, simultaneously – that will plague federal policymaking in the coming years. Until they choose the latter, U.S. fiscal problems will only grow worse. Consider the …
Continue reading “GOP Fiscal Fissures will Plague Policymaking”
The strange terminology and arcane ways of Washington often leave Americans bewildered and unsure of who to blame for a particular legislative decision. So we should welcome the occasions when differences between the political parties become crystal clear and there is little doubt about what each will fight for. One such occasion has arrived with …