Millions of Americans who depend upon government-funded services deserve better than this kind of "sore loser" lack of leadership from our elected representatives. And so do the hundreds of thousands of government employees who deliver these vital services.

Pension costs seem to loom over so many state and local budget battles like a sinister sword of Damocles, a dark reminder of Big Government's tyrannical profligacy. Should we panic?

There are now only 12 days left for Congress to reach an agreement to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff," yet Republicans are still insisting on a plan that will harm our economy and risks our ability to compete in the 21st century.

There are a lot of good criticisms that can be made regarding the need to overhaul a sclerotic public sector, but starting such discussions with the assumption that one can neatly divide the populace between makers and takers is rank nonsense.

When disasters hit, the government is the only agent with the authority and capacity to marshal and mobilize resources sufficient to the undertaking

One of the most telling questions in the second debate focused on the gender pay gap: asking in what ways the candidates would "rectify the inequalities in the workplace. The Romney answer was an embarrassment and the president could have said more.

Is it any wonder that Republicans have become the Party of 'no'? If they had said yes, our unemployment might be in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent by now and the president would be kicking Mitt Romney's rear end even more thoroughly than he is already.

Lessons from the tough neighborhoods of Rio and Johannesburg also have meaning for the United States. One of the consequences of the severe budget cuts the GOP envisions under the Ryan plan is a growing disconnect between communities and government.

Both candidates are intelligent individuals who understand that both government and private enterprise serve fundamental roles in our society and, in the last century, have together produced the most vibrant, creative and productive economy that the world has ever known.

Though he attracted ridicule from the right for saying it (and what could he say that wouldn't attract ridicule from the right?), the president is cor...

President Obama is willing to have the federal government spend more money. But he has partly bought the story that deficit reduction has to come first. The Republicans would further gut the public sector. Contrary to the conventional view that deficit reduction would somehow "restore confidence" and increase business investment, that's not how economies work. Businesses invest when they see customers with open wallets. Though the Congressional Budget Office projects higher growth returning around 2014, it bases these projections on a "return to trend." There is no plausible story about where the higher growth will come from. If we don't get a drastic change in policy, we will be stuck in this rut for a generation or more.

The wake-up call is to get out, get into the mud, and see and feel what it is like on the ground with the masses of America. While he is at it, he should tell them in plain language what he promises them for their future of optimism.

After saying President Barack Obama does not care about the private sector, Mitt Romney on Friday dismissed unemployment in the public sector, saying ...