Missouri’s grim revenue picture got even grimmer last month, with tax collections falling 16.3 percent below what they were in September 2008 — and revenue in September 2008 was lousy to begin with.

The only bright spot in Missouri’s revenue picture —…

Pat Quinn: Hey, he picked a tie! (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Gov. Pat Quinn and the Illinois legislature last week met expectations by agreeing on a $26 billion budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 — the agreement is every…

Post-Dispatch file photo.

By any standard, American health care is the world’s most expensive.
• We spend twice as much per person as the average of other large developed nations — $6,714 in 2006, compared to $3,414. In 2008, per person spending is…

Copies of the trustees

This week, Social Security and Medicare trustees reported on financial problems facing their programs (as they do every year).
There are no similar summaries for the nation’s private health and retirement plans. What would it look like if there…

Gov. Pat Quinn

Last week, when Illinois’ second-most powerful state official proposed hiking income taxes by 50 percent to close an $11.6 billion budget deficit, we were heartened by the response of Illinois’ most powerful state official:

“I think Illinoisans want to…

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

There are adjectives that describe the $3.6 trillion budget President Barack Obama unveiled last week. Revolutionary is one. Radical is another.

To use one of Mr. Obama’s favorite words, audacious is another.

It is audacious in size, audacious in complexity and…

Protecting a nation from tainted food and unsafe drugs in the age of globalization is a daunting and complex job. But it’s not impossible. Americans have a right to expect that it be done right and done now.
It hasn’t been.…

Here’s a measure of how much the Iraq war is costing America, not just in lives
and dollars, but in terms of the nation’s priorities:

When President George W. Bush signed the $186 billion Iraq spending bill two
weeks ago, the controversial part…

It was that noted transportation visionary Larry E. Salci who two years ago predicted that the St. Louis region was headed for a “surface transportation crisis.” Little did he know that his own actions would help set the date for the…

Here’s an advance look at one of the editorials that will appear in Wednesday’s Post-Dispatch and online at STLtoday.com/news/editorials.

NO GREAT ALTERNATIVES

As they bounce over the potholes and stew in the traffic backups, Illinoisans feel the need for a new state…