Washington Times

By 2013 Barack Obama would outspend John McCain by at least $27 billion and as much as $119 billion, according to a new analysis of their tax and spending proposals.

McCain would cut taxes more than Obama, but would make deeper spending cuts, too, leaving him less in the red, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, headed by a former top Clinton administration official and former Republican congressman.

The projected deficit for 2013 is already $147 billion,… more

There has been speculation that the bailout might be conducted off-budget. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, strongly opposed that idea.

"It is important for the bailout to go on the government's books because what is happening is real and the impact on the government's finances is real," Ms. MacGuineas said. LINK

The debate over who to blame for this war in Central Asia becomes less important if Russia has leverage over the NATO operation in Afghanistan. Russia is waiting to see how the Western alliance reacts to its withdrawal from Georgia before deciding what to do next. "It would depend on whether the Russians simply stop being positive, which probably wouldn't have much of an effect," James Dobbins, the former special envoy for Afghanistan, said last week at a New America Foundation event. LINK

In the first comprehensive analysis that reviews the budget policies of Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain from both the spending and taxing sides of the ledger, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that Mr. Obama's policies would transform the current base-line budget surplus of $70 billion for 2013 into a budget deficit of $317 billion. The 2013 fiscal shortfall in a McCain administration would range between $275 billion and $367 billion...

...The report, "Promises, Promises: A Fiscal Voter Guide to… more

"Both plans would worsen, not improve, the fiscal position of the nation," which is facing a gigantic long-term fiscal gap, said Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "Both plans would dramatically enlarge the deficit..."  LINK

...Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, young Atlantic editors (Mr. Douthat made his bones as an intern at National Review), are concerned with shoring up that base and adding to it. The thesis is that members of "the working class," defined as "the non-college educated voters who make up roughly half the American electorate" and elected FDR, Nixon, Reagan and Bush have "transformed the Republican Party from the 'party of the country club' to the 'party of Sam's Club,'" as Minnesota… more

The American Academy of Diplomacy sent letters to the two presumptive presidential candidates last week, proposing several criteria for choosing non-career ambassadors, including foreign affairs experience, communication and persuasion skills, and leadership abilities...

..."It might be perfectly fine in today's climate, where you can raise more money over the Internet than ever before," to make a pledge such as the one the academy has called for, said Steven Hill, director of the Political Reform Program of the New America Foundation.

"With Barack Obama raising so much money… more

...Any Pakistani government must reckon with the fact that its countrymen prefer negotiation over military action against al Qaeda, the Taliban and other terrorist militants. In a recent study by Terror Free Tomorrow and the New America Foundation, more than half of Pakistanis said the United States was to blame for violence inside the country today, as compared to only 8 percent blaming al Qaeda. This is a perception gap of enormous proportions, and a similarly epic public-diplomacy failure... more

...In the current edition of the New Republic magazine, terrorism experts Paul Cruickshank and Peter Bergen, who has written a biography of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, document what they think is a pronounced shift by Muslims away from al Qaeda.

"Why have clerics and militants once considered allies by Al Qaeda's leaders turned against them?" the two writers ask.

"To a large extent, it is because Al Qaeda and its affiliates have increasingly adopted the doctrine of takfir, by which they claim the right to… more

Making Tax Day Less Painful (The Washington Times)

. . . Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that these $800 billion a year in "tax expenditures are really spending programs designed to look like tax cuts." . . . more