Thomas Sowell, known for his ability to get to the heart of the matter, gets to the heart of the matter concerning health care...which is that health care is a service provided by people to other people. The providers need to get paid. If the customer is not the one directly paying the bill, either in whole or in part, then they will use more of the service than they would if they were paying directly. Health costs are distorted by this simple fact, and every plan out there to reform the system is undermined if it does not take this fact into account.

Robert J. Samuelson is also known for his ability to cut through the rhetorical fog, which he does in this piece about the unwillingness of political leaders on both sides to speak frankly to the American people about our exploding deficits and massive accumulated debts. The truth? We must cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending by massive amounts. If we are not willing to do this, we must raise taxes by massive amounts to continue benefits at their current levels, or we must do some combination of significant spending cuts and significant tax increases. Choose.

Peter Beinart believes the Democrats need to be wary of the scandal surrounding Congressman Charles Rangel of New York.

Anne Applebaum points out the differences between Chile and Haiti in the aftermath of deadly earthquakes.