Obama's budget: A put up or shut up moment for the GOP  It's
facile to say that if the extreme right and left of American
politics dislike something, it must be a good idea, but in the
case of President Barack Obama's budget proposal, it may be
true.  The president is taking one more stab at a "grand
bargain" on the budget that would reduce deficits to a
manageable size, through a combination of tax increases and
spending cuts — including cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
Some liberal groups are promising primary challenges to any
Democrats who vote for a reduction in future Social Security
benefits. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called it a
"left-wing wish list." In fact, it's hard to find much of anyone
in official Washington — the president included — who is
particularly excited about this proposal. But Mr. Obama was
right to make it, on both policy and political grounds.  In its
broad outlines, the proposal is what we need in order to avoid
either an excessive buildup of the national debt or