What's on the horizon for taxes? AEI's Aparna Mathur weighs in with the House Small Business Committee.

Political dysfunction. Partisanship at record levels. Attack politics run amok. And public approval of Congress scraping the single digits (Sen. John McCain is fond of saying it's down to blood rlatives and paid staff).

Democratic districts received a lot more stimulus money than Republican districts and the districts of Democrats who were reelected in 2010 received even more money than districts of Democrats who were not. These patterns likely exist because more-powerful Democrats were able to capture more pork, and because pork spending helped candidates get reelected.

By removing unnecessary regulatory burdens that hinder companies from doing what they do best — creating jobs and meeting the needs of American consumers — the nation could create jobs and boost an otherwise lackluster economic recovery.

As President Obama prepares to meet other G-20 leaders in Cannes later this week, he previewed his pitch with an op-ed in the Financial Times. It read a bit like a half-time locker room pep talk to a team that had gotten knocked around on the field.

China's new leadership is threatening to stay content with slower economic growth, and the country's manufacturing, housing, and export sectors are experiencing problems. Nonetheless, China has an opportunity to influence economic growth in 2012 through stimulus measures to its own economy.

Barack Obama's 17-minute video "The Road We've Traveled" gives us an idea of how he wants to frame the issues in the fall election. The visuals are oddly antique for a president who promised hope and change.

President Obama and his team came into office insisting that they were on top of things and above mere ideological considerations. They were wrong.