TAXES

I much liked this New York Times op-ed piece by David Stockman, and today's column by Paul Krugman. I believe, with them, that we need to restore the rates that were in force before the Bush tax cuts--not just for the wealthy, but for the rest of us, too. It's all very well to talk about the need for deficit reduction, but no amount of magic will make that happen until we can agree to our fair share of sacrifice.

The President is fighting an uphill battle on this one. The economic plan he put out reflects the political reality of an electorate that has been persuaded to believe that black is white and up is down, and that free lunches abound. To get anything achieved, he needs to count on good, solid support from his own base. It's time to let him hear that he has the support he needs.