CNN notes: WASHINGTON (CNN) – Since the president prefers not to raise taxes to finance Hurricane Katrina recovery, three senators suggested Sunday that Congress cut spending, delay a Medicare prescription benefit and forego a tax cut for the rich. Senate Democrat Joe Biden from Delaware suggested sacrificing a cut in estate taxes, and Republicans Lindsey […]

How can the US aspire to an “Ownership Society”, when in reality the nation is mortgaging its future, or in the words of Warren Buffett, becoming a “Sharecropper’s Society.”? And how can the US revel in slightly above trend GDP growth that comes at the expense of massive quantities of new consumer and government debt? […]

Credit should go to conservatives like Andrew Samwick who object to Bush’s free lunch philosophy: If we can handle it now, why weren’t we handling it before? Why does rebuilding New Orleans compete favorably with this unspecified set of least useful programs, but not funding Social Security personal retirement accounts? Or the new Medicare prescription […]

Question: what do the following two headline stories have in common? Answer: they are the most important logistical endeavors and tests of management competence that the Bush administration has faced. From the New York Times: Poor Planning and Corruption Hobble Reconstruction of Iraq The United States has poured more than $200 million into reconstruction projects […]

Dan Froomkin does a good job today of covering how Bush’s speech last night was rather odd, in many ways, coming from someone who is self-described as ‘conservative’. Some of the media analysis brought together in Froomkin’s column today: Mr. Big Government Michael Tackett writes in the Chicago Tribune about what he calls Bush’s “act […]

New figures were just released this morning about the US current account deficit during the April-June period of 2005. From the BEA release: The U.S. current-account deficit–the combined balances on trade in goods and services, income, and net unilateral current transfers–decreased to $195.7 billion in the second quarter of 2005 (preliminary) from $198.7 billion (revised) […]

I can’t guarantee that this isn’t a Photoshop job, but here’s something from my Inbox that rings rather true: AB

Charles Schumer is my hero. I’m starting to think that he may be one of the most intelligent and articulate senators that we have. Sorry for the length of the following transcript excerpt; I couldn’t resist. From yesterday’s confirmation hearings : SCHUMER: [L]et me ask you this about judges in general. You sit on a […]

The Washington Times notes that DeLay declares victory in war on budget fat: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans’ choice […]

The Federal Reserve reported today on industrial production and capacity utilization. From the report: Industrial production rose 0.1 percent in August, and at 119.7 percent of its 1997 average, was 3.1 percent above its year-earlier level. Manufacturing output increased 0.3 percent; excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing production was unchanged from July. The output at […]