The White House has put out the word that President Obama’s budget will propose changing the way government adjusts benefits for Social Security and other programs (as well as the income tax). Liberal Social Security advocates are furious. By shifting to a measure called the chained Consumer Price Index, the retirement system would boost benefits [...]

This afternoon, I moderated an Urban Institute panel on taxes and the fiscal cliff. The fundamental question on the table:  Will Congress have to tumble over the precipice in order to build the political consensus it needs to do a budget deal? To put it another way, will it take the fear of a financial market [...]