The New Republic

Should we promote public health by providing extra funds for HIV prevention, cancer screening, flu vaccination, and the like? Or should we zero out these funds in order to repeal a small health reform provision that clamps down on rampant tax evasion? That’s the choice Congress is likely to face next week. Some prominent Republicans want it to choose the latter, although you likely won’t hear about it—at least, not in those terms. READ MORE >>

[Guest post by Noam Scheiber:] READ MORE >>

Last week was an active one for America’s stealth anti-poverty policy--the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)--though you’d be forgiven for not noticing. A couple of decisions, made with little fanfare, should have big implications for how low-income taxpayers receive the credit in the future.  READ MORE >>

Note: Here is my latest column for Kaiser Health News. READ MORE >>

Last week, USA Today published a story about all the "ordinary folks" who might get hit with the estate tax. A $1 million exemption would affect a lot of families that are well out of Steinbrenner's league. "You take a home, an IRA or 401(k) retirement account, some other savings and you get to $1 million pretty easily," says Richard Behrendt, senior estate planner for Robert W. Baird and a former IRS attorney. READ MORE >>

Washington–Can a nation remain a superpower if its internal politics are incorrigibly stupid? Start with taxes. In every other serious democracy, conservative political parties feel at least some obligation to match their tax policies with their spending plans. David Cameron, the new Conservative prime minister in Britain, is a leading example.  READ MORE >>

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Is "one-world government," whereby the United States would cede all sovereignty to a manipulative international force, a real threat to the country? Republican leaders in many states seem to think so: The platforms they've written this year explicitly ban it. READ MORE >>

                    Items worth reading from around the web: READ MORE >>

It's not very often you see a political party shoot itself in the foot by nominating an obviously terrible candidate when better alternatives are available. One exception is the Illinois Democrats, who turned what should be a safe seat into a competitive one by nominating Alex Giannoulias, whose family bank went under, for Senate. (Giannoulias hilariously said he would answer questions about the bank only after the primary, and Democratic voters even more hilariously decided to nominate him anyway.) READ MORE >>