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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review Nov 23, 2011 / 26 Mar-Cheshvan 5772

Cleaning up after supercommittee implosion

By Dale McFeatters


Printer Friendly Version



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee was not necessarily destined to fail, but it was always a long shot at best.

Its dozen members conceded Monday what the Associated Press termed "ignominious defeat," but a failure to work miracles is hardly ignominious. And a miracle is what the panel would have needed in agreeing on $1.2 trillion in budget cuts over a decade.

Congressional and presidential commissions, task forces and panels work best when there is broad agreement on the goals and the means to get there. These groups also give lawmakers political cover for courses of action that may prove temporarily unpopular.

The two sides on the supercommittee agreed on the goal of bringing a national debt that has reached $15 trillion under control. There was no agreement on means. The Democrats want to reach it mainly by raising revenues, taxes, if you will; the Republicans want to do so by major cuts in federal spending.

There were some credible efforts at compromise by various panel members, but they were shot down, often by the leaders of their own parties. Co-chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said efforts would continue even after Wednesday's official deadline, but they are likely to be desultory and it's difficult to envision a scenario for success.

What is sometimes dismissed as partisan bickering is, in fact, deep philosophical division. But for fans of largely political posturing, there is plenty of grandstanding to come.

Next month, Congress must decide whether to extend President Barack Obama's temporary 2 percent cut in the payroll tax, whether to renew his extended unemployment benefits and somehow reverse a planned 27 percent cut in payments to doctors treating Medicare patients.

And, let us not forget, only one of the 12 spending bills for government operations that were supposed to have been finished by Sept. 30 has been passed and signed by the president. Seven other bills are mostly done; and on four measures only one house has acted.

If there is no action as the end of the year approaches, the practice has been to roll the leftover measures into one bill and push it over to the next session. These bills are often messy and contentious because they offer one of the rare opportunities that lawmakers have left to slip in special-interest measures.

Congress rarely hangs around much in January, but in February Obama sends his fiscal 2013 budget to the Hill. Meanwhile, the House and Senate are supposed to come up with their own budgets. The House will; the Senate, again, may not get around to it.

If Congress can't agree on $1.2 trillion in tax hikes and spending cuts, those cuts go into effect automatically across-the-board in January 2013. Congressional Republicans, who got themselves into this trap, hope to avoid those cuts, especially in defense, that the Pentagon says will leave a hollow military.

Those cuts will be deeply unpopular with the public, but Obama says he will veto any attempts by the Republicans to get around them. "There will be no easy off-ramps on this one," he said.

If so, there will be a pretty spectacular collision that may make the country yearn for the days of endless bickering.

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Previously:


11/22/11 Jailing minors with adults adds to problems
11/21/11 Brilliant strategy? Action by inaction
11/18/11They're going to eat horses, aren't they?
11/17/11 A pretend stick shift for pretend drivers
11/16/11 Clinton's ‘vast experiences’: Did NBC pick the wrong Chelsea?
11/15/11 Occupy protesters, you've made your point. Now, scat
11/10/11 Our vets are a national problem?
11/09/11 Requiem for a once-great sport
11/08/11 A toilet as smart as its occupant
11/07/11 Prerevolutionary gems in need of TLC
11/04/11 Feds must stop scam of stealing from dead children
11/03/11 Bank listens ‘very closely’ to customer lynch mob
11/01/11 TV that's leading the people away from ‘core socialist values’
10/31/11 NATO should not be a victim of its success
10/28/11 Iran mulls getting rid of president and presidency
10/27/11 Bienvenidos a Dayton and bring your businesses with you
10/26/11 Archivists long for Obama's teleprompter
10/25/11 United Nations to run the Internet?
10/24/11 Attention, world: You've got the cash. We've got the houses
10/19/11 Oil pipeline must be in America's future
10/18/11 U.S. plans ‘limited’ mission in an Africa with no limits
10/17/11 Social Security's grave mistakes
10/12/11 NASA's help-wanted sign for astronauts
10/10/11 Saving Thomas Jefferson''s chimneys
10/06/11 Uncle Sam's answer to deadbeats --- robo-calls
10/04/11 Christie should ignore jibes on his weight
10/03/11 Iran says its warships will head for Jersey shore
09/29/11 Europeans bristle at Obama's lectures
09/28/11 Jessica Rabbit for the defense
09/27/11 Russia learns outcome of next March's presidential election
09/26/11 Another try at leaving no child behind
09/23/11 This generation needs a job more than a name
09/22/11 In the lane next to you: A driverless car
09/20/11 Cloudy, cool, chance of falling satellite
09/14/11 Humanitarian extortion
09/13/11 Paging Dr. Watson; he's there in 3 seconds
09/09/11 Forecasting 100 percent chance of heavy metal
09/08/11 A jobs program at Obama's doorstep
09/07/11 Iran's government afraid of the water
09/06/11 Congress returns, tanned, rested and testy
09/05/11 Space nations must clean up after themselves
09/02/11 Osama bin Laden died a failure and he knew it
09/01/11 Time to retire political pie in the face
08/31/11 Labor Day celebrates what, exactly?
08/30/11 These arrestees really are framed
08/25/11 When in an earthquake, block traffic
08/23/11 A case for discretion in deportation arrests
08/22/11 Tough times or not, parents shell out for school
08/18/11 Being unpleasant for fun, profit, promotion
08/17/11 Time to prepare for the end game in Libya
08/16/11: ‘Super Committee’ starts facing reality
08/15/11: World's fastest plane disappears even faster
08/12/11: British cops track rioters through security cameras
08/11/11: Relax. There is no Death Star
08/10/11: House pages run final errands
08/09/11: U.S. treading water on job creation
08/08/11: Uncle Sam, the world's permanent guest
08/05/11: Most 9/11 victims not on federal death records
08/04/11: Russian PM calls U.S. a ‘parasite.’ He should be so lucky
08/03/11: Congress goes from one bind to another
08/02/11: D.B. Cooper may no longer be a mystery
08/01/11: Libya's latest weapon against NATO --- lawsuits
07/29/11: He'll always be known as Hot Wheels Handler
07/25/11: Recruiting children to save a dying town
07/22/11: Bachmann's admirable medical candor
07/12/11: Social Security's grave mistakes
07/08/11: Debt crisis need not be constitutional crisis
07/07/11: Startups entice new talent with kickball, treehouses
07/05/11: Stranded tourists get rare treat
06/30/11: The dollar Americans refuse to spend
06/27/11: The hangman doesn't cometh





© 2011, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

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