A Sound Warning

E.J. Dionne: It's Time To Do The Math. "Will 2003 be a 'here they go again' year? Will Democrats again back a fictional 'compromise' that will further deplete the Treasury? You can already see its outlines. Bush may agree to add the Democrats' idea of a payroll tax holiday to his other proposals and pronounce the package 'balanced.' If Democrats do this, they will be complicit in creating a fiscal crisis that will explode after Bush leaves office — at just the time when the baby boomers are retiring and placing heavy demands on government."

This is tough love to be sure, but given the Democrats' track record of collaborating with a very bad Bush economic plan, it's time for Democrats to stand up and demand that federal budget and tax policy actually make a modicum of sense.