That was the question raised by President Obama during an interview in China (one of our biggest creditors), as cartoonists seized the opportunity to comment on America's looming national debt. "It is important," said Mr.

You wouldn't think the bottom line on the $1.6 trillion federal budget deficit and $11.9 trillion national debt crisis could be summed up in a single sentence, but when the right words whizzed by, the Wall Street Journal's David Wessel was quick to point them out.

On too many issues, the political discussion provides more heat than light, and the public doesn't have a chance to deliberate over the choices for solving problems. That certainly applies to health care reform, an area in which opinion is split, often in contradictory ways.

There was both joy and skepticism on Wall Street, as third quarter GDP figures showed growth in the U.S.

There's a potential milestone in the fight against HIV, with word that for the very first time, a vaccine has been found to provide a small but measurable protective effect against the disease.

Dinosaur bones, rocks, perhaps a rocket and more than a few microscopes. All ingredients of science museums but they could be so much more, says Alison Kadlec, in an article on "Science Museums as Sources of Civic Innovation."

What are the strong points of your city when it comes to supporting young people with after-school and other programs to help them thrive as our next generation of citizens?

The digital tool that started out silly (asking users "What are you doing?") grabbed the world by the horns as Iranians doubting the integrity of Friday's announced election victory used 140-character bursts on Twitter and posts to other social networks to get the word out inside and outside Iran.

Perhaps no meeting of the American Medical Association, at least not in recent memory, has attracted more public attention than this one. The powerful doctors' group has set the stage for a major speech Monday from President Obama at their Chicago convention by coming out against the creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan.

That's how President Obama describes General Motors' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, as a similarly hopeful note was also sounded on the instantly historic homepage of The Detroit Free Press.