Daily Read - 1/27/10

Politico reports on CBO's prediction of a $1.35 trillion deficit this year. "“Interest payments on the debt are poised to skyrocket,” CBO says. From 2010 through 2020, it projects the annual costs will triple in nominal terms from $207 billion to $723 billion and more than double as a share of GDP."

Meanwhile, "The Senate on Tuesday rejected a plan to create a bipartisan commission to tackle the nation's budget problems." Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) says "there is a growing and now majority support for taking on the debt." (Washington Post) It's Congress' job to spend wisely and set priorities. What do we need a commission for? (See also here)

In Newsweek, Robert Samuelson points out Obama's proposed spending freeze amounts "to about a sixth of the federal budget" and "would be mostly a rounding error in the decade’s projected deficits." Plus a little reminder that entitlements are the bigger issue - "As the recession’s impact wanes, deficits do decline but an aging population—which raises spending on Social Security and Medicare—keeps them high."


"Companies will be required to give the IRS a concise description of the reasoning behind "uncertain tax positions" and the amount of money riding on each of them," to make audits easier and more efficient for the IRS to perform. (Washington Post) Apparently collecting taxes is so difficult and complicated that the IRS needs enforcement help from the taxpayer, at their time and expense. I have a better idea to make audits easier - simplify the tax code!

Obama is smarter than you - and don't forget it! In the Washington Post, David Axelrod says Obama "is someone who in law school worked with [Harvard professor] Larry Tribe on a paper on the legal implications of Einstein's theory of relativity." Not sure how that's relevant to anything at all, but whatever.

Children in Massachusetts day care centers are now subject to mandatory toothbrushing. Really. (Boston.com, here; Hat tip here) Another case of parenting being done vicariously through unfeeling government bureaucracies.