Ken

A READER POINTED OUT the Times puzzle on fixing the deficit to me, a week or two ago, and since then I've been exploring the choices before us.

It's rather discouraging that the problem seems so simple to fix, even while addressing the recession at the same time, and that the politicians seem intent on keeping the system broken anyway.

Here are the next nine recommendations, in a plan which would not only eliminate the deficit and create a surplus, but which would strengthen our economy and the middle class at the same time:

I'VE BEEN WORKING MY WAY through the various cuts which have been suggested in order to deal with the deficit, but with a broader agenda.

It seems that it would be wise to make choices that not only eliminate the deficit, but also strengthen our country as well.

In line with that, I've suggested that we find cuts which will invest in the nation as a whole, decrease our over-investment in the military, and provide economic fuel to the levels of our economy where the work is actually done.

Below are the next ten areas in my list:

THE SENATE IS VOTING today on the President's compromise with Republicans.

(This post isn't an attack on Obama.)

The fact that this is happening is just a single example of a disturbing long-term trend.

(When you get to the end, you'll see.)

Obama complained, when progressives criticized his unilateral cave-in, that this was just health-care all over again.

A wonderful health-care reform was passed—something Democrats had been trying to do for years, he said—and still liberals were complaining because it "didn't include a public option".

He's right. It is just like health-care reform.

But, unfortunately, not in the way he intended.

TODAY'S POST IS A talk by Noam Chomsky on the internet, and other related thoughts.

It's particularly apt, in multiple ways, to our current state of affairs, blogs in general, and the daily mull.

I'd like to hear what you think about this. Please click on comments below, and join the discussion...

SO LET'S RETURN TO THE Times budget puzzle this series began with.

In the previous post, I outlined three strategies for dealing with the deficit and the recession simultaneously:

1. Stop investing in big wealth, and start investing in the nation as a whole.
2. Stop over-investing in military might.
3. Make sure there's enough cash flow at the bottom of the economy to keep it moving.

Just to be clear: this is not an anti-rich person approach.