Medicare as we know it

The President and his allies ominously warn that the Ryan plan would “end Medicare as we know it.”

But let’s be honest, how much do you really know about Medicare? If you’re under age 65 there’s a good chance that you know very little about the program. You have…

KQED’s Forum

Thanks to Michael Krasny for having me on KQED’s Forum this morning to discuss the President’s budget speech. Clinton CEA Chair and Obama outside advisor Dr. Laura Tyson and I discussed and debated the Obama and Ryan approaches for about half an hour.

Why the Clinton ’95 strategy might not work this time

In 1995 a new Republican House and Senate majority passed two bills. The first slowed the growth of government spending and balanced the budget. The second cut taxes. Because Medicare and Medicaid spending accounted for much of projected…

What will the 2012 election mean for fiscal policy?

The President is using “the American people have a choice” language to describe the long-term budget debate. This is code for “We’ll leave this issue unresolved for now, fight about it during the campaign, and whoever wins the election gets…

President Obama squandered a chance to reach across aisle

I have a new op-ed about the President’s budget speech on CNN’s site. As with most op-eds, I did not choose title. I would have included “President” before “Obama.”

Obama squandered chance to…