Stagflation

Krugman: "How do we get out of this bind? As the old joke goes, I wouldn't start from here. We should have spent the years of cheap oil encouraging conservation; we should have spent the years of modest growth in medical costs reforming our health care system. Oh, and we'd have a wider range of policy options if the budget weren't so deeply in deficit." [NYT]

Herbert: "It wouldn't be long before Ronald Reagan was, as the historian Robert Dallek put it, attacking Medicare as "the advance wave of socialism" and Dick Cheney, from a seat in Congress, was giving the thumbs down to Head Start. Mr. Cheney says he has since seen the light on Head Start. But his real idea of a head start is to throw government money at people who already have more cash than they know what to do with. He's one of the leaders of the G.O.P. gang (the members should all wear masks) that has executed a wholesale transfer of wealth via tax cuts from working people to the very rich." [NYT]

Pediatric AIDS: "Perhaps Mr. Clinton's biggest contribution is to focus attention on children and AIDS. Few children in rich countries are born with H.I.V., since their mothers usually take drugs to prevent transmission of the virus. So pediatric AIDS gets little attention. By taking on the issue, even in a limited role, Mr. Clinton is forcing others to confront the fact that we are needlessly leaving children to die." [NYT]