Super committee members Sen. Pat Toomey and Rep. Jeb Hensarling are taking flak from some conservatives for proposing a deal including increases in "revenues." But it's worth taking a look at what Toomey and Hensarling actually were talking about. It may not matter now but could after 2012.

Here’s the problem: The president never defines what he means by “fair.” And this is for a simple reason: his definition is simply not recognizable to most Americans.

President Obama's core message in his Wednesday press conference, his first since March, could be found in his advice to Republicans. "Are you willing to compromise your kids' safety so some corporate-jet owner can get a tax break?'"

No, the government shouldn’t eliminate tax breaks for private universities.

While almost all politicians appear to favor the extension of tax cuts for low- and middle-income households, many politicians are disparaging investment and in particular the taxpayers who account for most of that investment.

For most of 2012, President Obama has been running in the Democratic primary. I know that seems odd, given that he’s essentially running unopposed. But that's not what I'm talking about.

The tax code is 5,296 pages long and full of complicated details. We outlined a few of them in our recent column for the New York Times Magazine. So why hasn't Congress done anything to simplify the tax code? We posed the question to Alan D. Viard, a tax expert at the American Enterprise Institute. His response is below.

President Barack Obama and Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum have finally managed to find something they agree on. Despite their many differences, they see eye to eye on the notion that the tax system should favor manufacturing over other sectors of the economy.