When normal people judge what constitutes a tax increase, they compare what they will pay tomorrow to what they are paying today. If that number goes up, it's a tax increase. That is not how the Gang of Six did its tax calculations.

Here is another good news/bad news column about the 112th Congress.

What matters for China is not whether Westerners believe the system is cracking. The question is: How do the Chinese view their own system?

The American people certainly want their views heard by the new "gang of 12" committee spawned in the budget deal signed into law last week. But they deserve more than that. They deserve a Congress and a president willing to face up to fiscal reality and take action before it is too late.

The GAO's financial audit of the entire federal government exposes an appalling state of affairs.

The Justice Department’s recent announcement that an Iranian agent attempted to recruit a Mexican drug gang to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States presents an opportunity for the Obama administration finally to draw the line on Iran’s growing presence in the Western Hemisphere.

The retirement of Rep. Barney Frank from the House will cause mourning among all in the Congress-watcher and Congress-lover fraternity.  Meanwhile, the super committee’s inability to reach any agreement was shrugged off by most observers as the expected outcome, and it was, but I was deeply disappointed nonetheless.

For all the public wrangling we are seeing over the super committee — mostly centered on tax reform and revenues as a key component of a compromise — the big issue facing policymakers in the coming years is health care costs.