Debates over Social Security and Medicare reform cannot continue inside the Washington, D.C., vacuum without "adequate consideration to facts," writes Thomas B. Edsall in a recent New York Times op-ed. Yet that's exactly what is happening—not to mention "reform" inside the beltway means "cut" for policymakers trying to forge grand budget bargains. 

Here’s some news that gets buried in the normal the-sky-is-falling Social Security coverage. Although the weak economy is having a short-term impact on Social Security’s finances, Social Security is still projected to run an $868 billion surplus over the next decade, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released numbers that should make any deficit-fearing Republican stop dead on his or her way to vote to repeal health care reform.