Not much to disagree with in E.J. Dionne's column on the war tax today. I wanted to highlight this passage, though: Would conservatives and Republicans support the war in Iraq if they had to pay for it? That is the immensely useful question that Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, put on the table this week by calling for a temporary war tax to cover President Bush's request for $145 billion in supplemental spending for Iraq.

There seems to be some confusion in the press over how many votes will be needed to override President Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill. It's pretty much basic arithmetic. There are 435 members in the House. You need a 2/3rds majority of all voting members to overide a veto. So at most, 290 members will have to vote to override. That's all we know for sure.

This week's Samuelson Watch is outsourced to Matthew Yglesias:

The SCHIP reauthorization has been sent to the President for his signature. Will he help give 4 million more children health insurance, or will he try to deprive them of it? Well, don't just sit there. Tell the President to sign it!