Free Republic

This is the 931st day of the Barack Obama presidency. (Snip) Being a Real Good Talker helped him get the job heading the law review. And entering politics. And succeeding early there, albeit within Chicago's rigged system. And being an RGT thrust him onto the national stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 when delegates had the foolish notion that John Kerry and John Edwards could win. Obama is very proud of his talking. In May this year he told a Boston fundraiser: "Back in 2004, I gave a little speech here that got some attention."

Some Republicans are getting desperate over the debt-ceiling debate, but we hope not desperate enough to embrace the Gang of Six proposal. It may be the worst of the debt-ceiling compromises placed before them to date. The authors allege that their plan will eliminate some $3.7 trillion from the projected federal deficit over the next decade — and allege is the right word. The main deficit-reduction instruments would be a $1.2 trillion tax hike and deep cuts to defense spending. Neither of those proposals addresses the fundamental long-term spending drivers, which are the entitlement programs, mainly Social Security and Medicare....