Will the Chinese lend us the money to deploy an aircraft carrier off their coast, or finance new American health-care entitlements that they cannot afford for 400 million of their own people? They will if they want their current stash to be worth anything.

Yeah, Obamacare. Instead, let's just keep on being the highest cost health care system among the industrialized nations. For 2007, according to OECD data, the US spent $7200/capita on health care. The UK spent less than $3,000 and France spent just over $3,000 with Japan spending $2,300. We're being looted by the insurance and drug companies but let's not change anything. If we did, it might help the deficit.

Acorn was also involved in massive voting fraud, Utterly and completely wrong, Find one case of vote fraud by ACORN. You'll look a long time because there aren't any. There was voter registration fraud that occurred against ACORN (people got paid based on how many they signed up so they signed up fictitious names) but there was no vote fraud. See FactCheck.org Here

Over the next 50 years, that percentage has rarely exceeded 20 percent or fallen below 17 percent. Well, John, two of the years in which the percentage fell below 17% would be 2009 and this year. Projected revenue for the budget year that ends tomorrow is under 15% of GDP. If revenue were at the average of the last 50 years, the deficit would be $520 billion less than it will be. It simply means government steals less. That's just a stupid thing to say. Throwing chum on the water, though, eh?

In 2001, the Cato Institute did a study of the programs slated for extinction under the Contract with America and found that the top 25 programs to be disposed of grew faster than the next 25. Newt was a fraud then and he's a fraud now. That's why the establishment Rs should be very concerned.

Thus, Jones' lawful, harmless symbolic stunt making the connection -- Um, not quite lawful. According to Gainesville, Florida Police and other public safety officials will be on hand Saturday to enforce the city's open-burning law, said Bob Woods, Gainesville's communications manager. The ordinance's list of eight classes of items that may not be burned does not specifically include books, but does include paper. But it's just a local ordinance, so what the heck. His insurance company was fearful of, you know, flames. The bank had a similar fear, what with no insurance. Jones was never going to burn the Quran, not when he got what he wanted from the gullible media. Just IMO, he is an idiot and that has nothing to do...

Which president grew government faster in number of employees and expenditures? Bush Who passed the Medicare Part D by lying about the cost? Republicans Who had 12 years to cut government while in control of Congress (remember the Contract with America)? Republicans Who doubled the national debt in 8 years? Republicans What country are those rich people living in? America. Cut defense spending in half, now and save $4 trillion over ten years and then go ahead and extend the tax cuts. Just for the math: if the top marginal rate goes back to what it was in 2000, and you earn $300,000/year, the change will cost you an extra $2,000. I don't know, doesn't seem that bad.

For an historian, facts don't seem to mean much here. First, Bush had a one-time Wall Street meltdown, seems rather understated for the economy's near death experience. Much of the economic woes over the 19 months of Obama came from that "meltdown" my dear. Second, the government year that ended 9/30/09 was Bush's last budget year, not Obama's. You do remember that TARP was a Democratic Congress under the Bush presidency. So the deficit of 9.30.09 belongs to Bush, not Obama. The first fiscal year of the Obama presidency ends 9/30/10. You can pretend that Bush was an okay president, but history will show that the Iraq invasion with all the blood and all the treasure was a huge, gigantic mistake. Now, then and in the future, that...

You're so full of crap, I'm surprised you could type. Marty Peretz said something a whole lot worse than what you pretend Kristof quoted. Something Peretz himself (partially) apologized for. You know what it is, but you keep the readers in the dark; his comment about the Imam Rauf's Muslims was: So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse." He said that about US citizens. He was catastrophically wrong. Just like you. Your straw man is easy to defeat but the people I read on the left don't start and end with Islam is a religion of peace. But the Catholics and conservatives I read like to throw in the...

Where is it "absolutely forbidden" to burn a Quran. Just because the last time it happened it caused a riot and dead people in Afghanistan, one would think it a good idea for the troops not to burn or shoot up a Quran. Self-preservation seems a good idea. Afraid of them? Hell, man, we killed over a hundred thousand of them in Iraq and made 2 million leave the country. You think we're afraid? Dumbo. Good movie, dontcha think?