The deficit and the dead-end future | Michael Tomasky

As we've discussed, Obama has appointed an 18-member bipartisan deficit commission that will offer some recommendations in December. As you should know, the basic tensions are these: more short-term stimulus versus deficit reduction; sanctity of Social Security and Medicare versus cuts thereto; budget cuts versus tax increases. These are massive questions that really go directly to the heart of governance and political philosophy. One's answers to these questions reflect what kind of society ...