“The United States will probably not face the same kind of crisis as Greece, for all sorts of reasons,” wrote David Leonhardt, economics writer for the New York Times. “But the basic problem is the same. Both countries have a bigger government than they’re paying for. And politicians, spendthrift as some may be, are not the main source of the problem. We, the people, are. We have not figured out the kind of government we want. We’re in favor of Medicare, Social Security, good schools, wide highways, a strong military — and low taxes. Dealing with this disconnect will be the central economic issue of the next decade, in Europe, Japan and this country.”
The latest SurveyUSA poll of Kansas, sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12, confirms that people dislike higher taxes, but they like what higher taxes make possible. In the survey, conducted Tuesday, 56 percent said they disagreed with the Legislature’s approval of a three-year, 1 percent sales-tax increase, yet 63 percent said they agreed with the tax increase if it meant avoiding further cuts to schools and social services. The Legislature’s job performance earned it only a 23 percent approval rate — down 3 percentage points from April.
“The British Petroleum oil executives — the guys responsible for the big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — they testified before Congress. This was great. They were criticized by the same guys who approved drilling in the Gulf.” — David Letterman
“BP, Transocean and Halliburton are blaming each other for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. They are all right.” — Jay Leno
“President Obama just nominated Elena Kagan to be the next Supreme Court justice. He went against the advice of Joe Biden. Biden wanted Iron Man.” — Craig Ferguson
