The Vital Center
Forward Thinking
Joint Effort
Public Good
Road Block
In his State Department speech last week, Barack Obama threw down the gauntlet to Benjamin Netanyahu. In the Oval Office a day later, and more fully in an address to Congress yesterday, Netanyahu picked it up and threw it right back. READ MORE >>
DISPUTATIONS: Something’s Gotta Give
Because my previous column on taxes stirred up some controversy, I thought it would be useful to put all the evidence on the table for everyone to consider. But before engaging the details, let me make my priors clear. READ MORE >>
Soak the Almost Rich
Survey Says
Better Angels
How should we respond to the killing of Osama bin Laden? My first reaction was unbridled joy. As I was crawling into bed (too late) last night, I giddily allowed myself to sing, “Ding, dong, the wicked witch” from The Wizard of Oz. READ MORE >>
Gang Politics
Three recent items—two surveys and a news article—illuminate the current state of our country’s fiscal debate. Taken together, their message is straightforward: The American people want the problem addressed now, they’re dissatisfied with the solutions proposed thus far, and everything depends on the Senate’s “Gang of Six.” READ MORE >>
Ask Not
No later than the first year of the next presidential term, we’ll have to find a way of coming together around a plan to restore long-term fiscal sustainability. There are three principal impediments to agreement: the president’s health reform law; Medicare and Medicaid; and taxes. I don’t mean to suggest that other issues—such as defense and Social Security—are trivial, but only that the gaps on these issues seem easier to bridge. READ MORE >>
