The lead editorial in the much-read Sunday New York Times yesterday, The Budget Illusion, cites last week's CBO projections of a cumulative deficit of $2.9 trillion to $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years "if, as Mr. Bush wishes, the tax cuts are extended beyond their scheduled expiration in 2010." It concludes: Mr. Bush’s tax cuts should largely be allowed to expire. Facing that truth is not a fiscal challenge, it’s a political one. Mr. Bush will not meet it. But a future president and Congress will have to.

Last year's Congress failed to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determiniation act, which provides a funding stream for rural areas suffering from the decline in the timber industry. Unless Congress acts soon, these rural communities may lose millions of federal funding. Oregon would be particularly hard-hit. The LA Times has more:

The Tax Foundation's blog has an aggravating but typical post up. The basic claim is that spending has risen faster than tax revenues over the last 6 years. Therefore, it's spending that's out of balance, not revenues. So, implicitly, spending should be reduced to eliminate the deficit.

As previously noted, the Supreme Court will most likely not hear oral arguments in the Wisconsin Right To Life (WRTL) case until April. However, the current commotion over the case is strong, foreshadowing the commentary to follow the court's decision. Two blogs with differing opinion have been going back forth on the other's commentary. As these arguments bounce off of one another, so does the issue of the case, intent and influence of the WRTL advertisements. See Bob Bauer's latest blog at More Soft Money Hard Law and Rick Hasen's blog at electionlawblog.org.