how to pay for Obama's war? Hoosier senators balk...

A war tax is generally more admirable than debt, especially for wars that are not clearly in the national interest. In terms of the economics, neither taxes nor debt look attractive right now; the former would slow any recovery and the latter moves us closer to a debt cliff.

From the AP's Maureen Groppe in the C-J...

Indiana's senators have expressed concern about the nation's growing debt and how to pay for military operations in Afghanistan. But neither Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican, nor Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat, supports a proposed surtax to pay for the war....

Rep. David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who heads the House committee that writes the annual spending bills, introduced a bill last month that would impose a surtax on people earning more than $30,000 and would tax the wealthy more heavily. Obey has said he doesn't expect the bill to pass but wants to draw attention to the war's cost and how it's being financed....