Past 48 hours of posts

Here's another explanation for the improving fiscal outlook: Property is gaining in value. This is good news for local governments, as well as for homeowners who are seeing the value of their properties creep back up after several down years

Government is needed a lot more in bad times than in good times. With the economy getting better, albeit slowly, that reliance is not only starting to recede, but it's being replaced by more money coming in.

That's still up from 1991 when it was just 57, according to a Gallup survey, and much of the increase came after the recession. Those still in the workforce expect to retire well past 61.

April's unemployment rate was 9 percent, down from 9.4 percent the previous month and the lowest level since late 2008.

The problem is that adding two and two gives you four, not 18, as the attack dogs in Congress and the media would want you to believe. Government wrongdoing is not the same as presidential wrongdoing.

Perhaps because the flying experience, while not always wonderful, is a bit more tolerable these days, thanks to greater efficiency and reliability.