The author chronicles the rise of what he calls the New New Left, beginning with President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty in the 1960s, and lays the blame for the economic meltdown of the early twenty-first century to the bigger government and more public spending agenda of the political powerhouse

The discrepancy between taxing and spending -- The politics of taxing -- Raising taxes -- Cutting taxes -- The politics of spending -- The growth of government spending -- Reducing spending -- Deficits and the american democracy

"We Are Better Than This fundamentally reframes budget debates in the United States. Author Edward D. Kleinbard explains how the public's preoccupation with tax policy alone has obscured any understanding of government's ability to complement the private sector through investment and insurance...