| Why the recovery is feeble Nov 26th 2012, 00:42 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last week became the latest economist to ask why the current economic recovery has been so weak. The question has inspired a cottage industry of studies, papers and speeches with often-esoteric and murky theories. The explanation is actually straightforward: The financial crisis and Great Recession scared the wits out of most Americans — not just consumers but also corporate managers, bankers and small-business owners. They are reacting accordingly. They're cautious, risk-averse and defensive. They're spending less and saving more. Read full article >>   |  | Lessons from Gaza Nov 26th 2012, 00:41 When Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a cease-fire with Hamas rather than a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, he surely knew that his opposition would taunt him with these words from 2009: "We must smash the Hamas power in Gaza," he said then. "The next government will have no choice but to finish the job and uproot . . . the Iranian terror base." Read full article >>   | | A plan to dodge the 'fiscal cliff' Nov 26th 2012, 00:40 In business I found that a challenging environment often produced our best opportunities. Perhaps that's why I see the so-called " fiscal cliff " of year-end spending cuts and tax increases not as an impassable precipice but as our best opportunity to finally enact meaningful fiscal reform. Read full article >> | | Hiding the church's treasure Nov 26th 2012, 00:38 To say that the Belle Harbor neighborhood on New York City's Rockaway Peninsula was slammed by Hurricane Sandy understates the case. Like many other parts of the region, it has suffered the kind of devastation we usually associate with wars. Read full article >>   | | Nov 25th 2012, 23:52 Charles Lane argued that the "least defensible special break in the U.S. tax code" is the deduction for state and local taxes. This position reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the logic of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). When a state imposes a tax on its citizens, that tax is a charge for the privilege of living and working in the state. It is not a personal expense — failure to pay the tax is a criminal act, punishable by imprisonment. The IRC simply acknowledges that, because the tax has been paid to the state, the funds are not available for taxation by the federal government. The charitable deduction and mortgage interest deduction are, to the contrary, inherently personal expenses, reflecting individual choices having nothing to do with any government payments or federal programs, and the rationale for allowing these deductions is highly suspect. Read full article >> | | A deterrent to living dangerously Nov 25th 2012, 23:48 In their Nov. 23 Washington Forum commentary, "Too close to the shore," James D. Fraser, Sarah M. Karpanty and Daniel H. Catlin presented some sensible solutions to the problems caused by Americans' propensity to build homes too close to the sea. But the simplest solution would be to simply deny, forever, all federal and state assistance to insure or rebuild such homes. Read full article >> | | Editorial Board: A better stat for inflation Nov 25th 2012, 23:10 PRESIDENT OBAMA and Congress have hard choices to make as they try to fashion a long-term budget compromise. But not all of the options are excruciating. One measure would generate large savings over the next decade, split between entitlement spending and revenue increases. The pain it inflicts on beneficiaries and taxpayers would be minimal, widely shared and phased in gradually. And all it would require is a quick administrative tweak. Read full article >>   | | Editorial Board: Marijuana's foot in the door Nov 25th 2012, 23:08 SMALL-TIME MARIJUANA use will soon be legal in Colorado and Washington state. Sort of. This month voters in those states approved ballot measures permitting possession of up to an ounce of pot. But the federal government has not changed its policy, which labels the drug an illegal substance. Members of Congress introduced legislation Nov. 16 that would allow state marijuana rules to preempt federal ones. But that, in effect, would resemble federal legalization, and it's unlikely to pass anytime soon. Read full article >>   | | Jennifer Rubin: Sunday wrap Nov 25th 2012, 20:54 1. Who said this about what pledge? "When you're $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming Greece." 2. Who said this about whom? "I'd give everyone the benefit of explaining their position and the actions that they took. I'd be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her." Read full article >>   | | Jennifer Rubin: Jostling in the 2016 race already Nov 25th 2012, 18:00 In a report speculating that former Florida governor Jeb Bush may run for president in 2016, the New York Times observes, "When Senator Marco Rubio of Florida held a strategy session here to discuss his own political future last week, the question of Mr. Bush, a mentor, hung over the room; a decision by Mr. Bush, 59, to seek the Republican nomination would almost certainly halt any plans by Mr. Rubio, 41, to do so or abruptly set off a new intraparty feud." Read full article >>   | |
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