The government decided at a cabinet meeting to move ahead with steep cuts in civil-service salaries and entitlements, and to raise Greece's sales tax by two percentage points.
Several weeks ago I posted a long article on the federal budget. The simple truth facing the US is clear: once we're through this recession we have to do two politically unpalatable things: cut spending and raise taxes. One won't accomplish the task as it is insufficient to seriously cut the deficit.
I was watching a Sunday AM news program a few weeks ago when I heard David Brooks comment that now is the time when a third party is most viable. The reason he cited was dead-on accurate: Democrats won't cut spending and Republicans won't raise taxes. That is the political reality of Washington where fiction has become a way of life.
