America’s Security Put in Peril by Failing Schools by Michael Reagan Today, Washington is so focused on expanding the size and influence of our federal government at the expense of taxpayers that they are overlooking one of the greatest security risks facing our nation — our failing education system. Our broken education system is failing America’s children while countries around the world, our own...

Matthew Yglesias has a superb piece today responding to the “tea leaves” crowd who predict electoral disaster for the Democrats if health care reform becomes law:

They are:

Here is The New Republic‘s Jonathan Cohn on some of the reports that have been flying around the Internet concerning health care reform:

On Yahoo there is the headline “Feb. retail-sales report provides hope for economic recovery.” From the article: Retail sales posted a surprising increase in February as consumers did not let major snowstorms stop them from racking up purchases. The advance, the biggest since November, provided hope that the recovery from the Great Recession is gaining momentum… For February, sales rose 0.3...

Let me just say this straight out: This could not happen, and it would not happen, in a country that actually was the greatest country on earth.

Yves Smith calls for his resignation. I have little to add other than that Bill Black, a leading regulator in resolving the S&L crisis has long claimed that the financial crisis was not merely a result of bad decisions, but in large part due to overt fraud that was perpetuated by the largest financial institutions and blessed (or at least given a blind eye) by the government. If this turns into anything,...

When debating an issue, one can always impress the opponent—and oftentimes win the argument—by citing lots of numbers and statistics. I was thus extremely “impressed” when Rush Limbaugh, in defense of the Iraq war, brought up the following statistics in an August 2006 radio talk show: Now, the number of highway deaths in this country, 43,443 in 2005, is 40 to 50 times our troop losses in Iraq...

Edward Harrison at Naked Capitalism explains why Europe is destined for another recession in the near future. They are replicating the mistakes that led to the Great Depression being “Great:” everyone is going to cut government spending and try to increase exports in the context of a fixed currency regime. The analog between the EU now and the world in general during the Depression is as close as...

Reid to McConnell: Do I make myself perfectly clear?

WASHINGTON — There is a pathetic quality to our discussion of deficits and fiscal responsibility because we never face up to how much we need government to do. Our debates are also characterized by a politically convenient amnesia. Just a decade ago, we were running surpluses so big that Alan Greenspan, then chairman of the Federal Reserve, worried about what would happen once our national debt was...

Relentlessly pursuing health care reform, the President is looking like a modern Ahab, wounded by but determined to nail the killer whale of the American economy at all costs. Yet, as he keeps harpooning health insurers, even Obama admirers are warning that he risks capsizing the ship of state by, as Bob Herbert puts it, not concentrating on job creation that would ease “the frightening economic insecurity...

In light of some recent discussions here at TMV about various entitlement programs — particularly Social Security — CNN Money has a timely article out: The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010 from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s annual Retirement Confidence Survey. That excludes the value of primary homes...

Specifically, the money gap between the richest and poorest in society — income inequality, in other words. And according to a new book called The Spirit Level, income inequality is a leading explanation for why the United States ranks at or near the bottom on a number of social indicators, compared with other developed nations in the world.

The city of Miami wants to cut down on litter by making it illegal to give food to homeless people:

Please read the latest piece from Simon Johnson. He sounded so optimistic a few months ago, but has since become resigned.

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

A couple of days ago, I posted a piece called “Health Care Reform: Those ‘Irreconcilable Differences.’” The post basically conveyed my opinion that just as our legislators—mostly Democrats, with some Republican support—stepped up to the plate in 1935 and 1965, and enacted Social Security and Medicare, respectively, Democrats today must act similarly on health care reform, given that: Democrats...

This is a story about politicians cutting costs with unintended consequences. As in many states, California ordered state employees to take three furlough days from work each month for an annual estimated payroll savings of $1.2 billion. Now they learn from a state auditor’s report overtime of essential employees in 24/7 departments is costing the state $1 billion Prison nurse Nellie Larot took the 14%...

Ten trillion more of debt…. (just to show how big that is I actually typed billion at first, just unable to process the t-word) Before anyone accuses me of partisanship, I have been mad at every deficit spending President and Congress in my lifetime, Republican and Democrat. But when we start talking trillions of dollars in debt we start talking about more than just bills to our kids, we start talking...

UPDATED David Dayen flags this latest example of the Catholic Church working directly with legislators who want to make abortion completely unavailable to American women who cannot afford to purchase health insurance in the private market, which is of course the vast majority of American women:

THIS JUST IN! You know what has finally frozen over and here’s why: Neiman Marcus is serving corn dogs, the Al Dente blog reports: I’ve just returned from the Fashion Rules! Party, a free event held at Neiman Marcus stores around the country. In its Bellevue, Washington store, shoppers were entertained–there were games, a fashion show and fun music–and served yummy soft pretzels and...

Reconciliation — Playing Parliamentary Games with America’s Future by Michael Reagan Well, the not-so-surprising news of the week out of Washington is that President Obama is now calling on Congress to schedule a straight vote on the Democrats’ health care reform measure. The new twist is that Democrats now recognize that their flawed plan, which has been met with stiff resistance from congressional...

The latest example of Republicans’ last-minute mania to kill health care reform is a version of divide and conquer – but they are playing it so ineptly that it’s more amusing than alarming:

President Barack Obama is now running the political gauntlet on health care reform. The time to jumpstart the proposed legislation is past. Now it’s crunch time: Obama’s must get it passed to avoid him and his party from being politically crunched and the Republicans are hoping Democrats will crunch him for them as they make their own strongest effort to hear the snap. And, indeed, Obama faces some...