Liberals Getting a Taste of How ‘Balance’ Feels: Amity Shlaes Lack of balance is the charge being levied against the Texas State Board of Education after it inserted changes to new standards in social studies programs in public schools. The Associated Press said in an article that a “far-right faction” of the board had succeeded “in injecting conservative ideals” into the curriculum.

Real Men in Maine Have a Wife Who’s a Teacher: Amity Shlaes Last November, bosses at a certain company in Marlboro, New Jersey, went to employees asking for help. It was a tough stretch, and the unemployment rate had just exceeded 10 percent for the first time since April 1983.

Obama Chases European Mirage That’s Made in U.S: Amity Shlaes “That’s how they do it in Europe.” This is the biggest conceit behind the reform plans President Barack Obama will take to the health-care summit with Republicans later this week.

Federal Jobs Look Too Good Not to Have Big Price: Amity Shlaes To hear Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell, you would think that the future of the American workforce depends on whether they can agree on temporary payroll tax holidays, highway funding, biodiesel subsidies and supplying teachers with enough cash to acquire new pencils.

Peyton Manning Skills Needed to Avert Tax Fumble: Amity Shlaes President Barack Obama is offering up a budget that reflects the biggest debts and deficits in U.S. history.

Obama Ready to Short U.S. With Japan Inc. Talk: Amity Shlaes When President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address tomorrow, he’ll do it in English. But what he says would sound just fine in Japanese.

Doctors’ Negligence Makes Health Policy Tragedy: Amity Shlaes Now we know their names.

U.S. Economy Is Up in the Air With George Clooney: Amity Shlaes Airport security lines trigger the same mental process in most Americans. Irritation is the first stage. You arrive at the front of the line hostile to the whole enterprise -- the conveyer belt, the company that manufactured the recalcitrant zipper on your bag, the not-especially-polite airport workers.

Washington, Bernanke, Still Fighting Wrong War: Amity Shlaes Sometime soon the U.S. Senate is expected to confirm Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term. Soon the Senate will also vote on legislation to overhaul the financial industry.

Obama’s Next Trillion Spending Might Be Worth It: Amity Shlaes President Barack Obama is under fire for saying he wants to boost investment in infrastructure in the next decade. The critics say this is flawed stimulus because infrastructure projects take too long to get started and don’t boost the economy now.