In his 48-page paper presented on March 19 to the Brookings Institution, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan now blames the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resurgence of the Chinese economy as causes of the Great Recession that was ushered in on his watch. And his arguments have just enough plausibility to be considered, if only briefly. But looking more closely is another matter.

Two prominent U.S. Senators are promoting national ID cards as a means of mending the nation's "badly broken" immigration system. Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have said they will co-sponsor legislation to require all workers in the U.S., citizens as well as aliens, to have a biometric Social Security cards, with a unique personal identifier such as a fingerprint or eye scan, in order to work.

"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America ... there is established within the Executive Office of the President the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform." Thus begins the Executive Order signed by President Barack Obama on February 18, creating what is being called the Debt Commission.