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Insisting on independence.

The parental decision concerning kicking newly graduated college kids out of the house is a microcosm of our societal decision about dependency. Pushing a kid out in the world to make it on his or her own is almost always the best thing you can do for the kid.

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Who really sets the debt limit?

Bill and Marge have been hitting the VISA card each month to close the gap between what they earn and what they spend. Their reckoning is coming. The U.S. Government needs to learn from Bill and Marge.

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Glory, no matter how great, is easily lost.

England was once the most powerful country on Earth. But the cost of fighting two world wars, and the resulting debt, knocked England out of first place, never to return. Therein lies a cautionary tale for the United States.

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Graduating to service debt.

Nearly unlimited student loan availability has removed the price signals that would have otherwise kept prices for college in check. Thus the price for college is outpacing inflation by as much as five-to-one.

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S&P’s shot across the bow.

Yesterday, Standard & Poor’s issued a negative outlook on the sovereign debt of the United States. Thus the U.S. joins an ignominious pantheon of bankrupt companies and failed socialist states.

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Hats off to Paul Ryan.

House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan went to a Washington, D.C. tattoo parlor and had a giant target tattooed on his forehead. Or so it is going to seem in the coming weeks.

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The public/private disconnect.

I got an email from the superintendent of the school district where my younger daughter goes to school talking about the impact of state budget funding cuts.

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The magnitude of the problem.

House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan has unveiled a proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. That proposal would cut more than $6 billion in federal spending over ten years.

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Disturbing parallels.

Carter lacked the charisma of Obama, good news for Obama, because the parallels between them should otherwise be of great concern to Obama.

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It’s time to shut ‘er down.

Republicans may wish to avoid a fight with Democrats that results in a government shutdown. But wishing not to fight and refusing to fight are two different things. It’s time to fight.