Peter Orszag proposes a placeholder deal to get around Congressional gridlock over the expiring Bush tax cuts by establishing a temporary tax refund that would last until either a permanent deal was reached or the unemployment rate dropped.

This CFR Issue Tracker looks at the United States' relationship with Pakistan and presidential candidates' stances on the issue.

Frank G. Klotz says the United States needs to rebuild its icebreaking capability in Antarctica, otherwise protecting U.S. interests—in both polar regions—will become even more challenging.

Peter Orszag argues that Representative Paul Ryan's budget plan would risk stranding elderly patients who wish to remain enrolled in Medicare.

Pundits predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act would make history.

Gregory Bovt writes that Russia is a low priority on the list of foreign policy issues for both Democratic and Republican candidates and advises avoiding excessive anti-Russian or anti-U.S. rhetoric from both sides.

Peter Orszag defends the Independent Payment Advisory Board as a critically important part of the ongoing effort to shift U.S. health-care away from the fee-for-service model.

Peter Orszag explains that privatization would allow the U.S. Postal Service to free itself from congressional shackles and manage its operations more efficiently.

Peter Orszag writes that the steep federal subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act will make it hard for states to resist expanding their Medicaid programs.

John B. Bellinger III argues that Congress should reconsider the International Criminal Court.

Peter Orszag makes the case that increasing electoral participation would improve American democracy.

Robert Rubin explains how the pressures of the "fiscal cliff" will present U.S. political leaders with a rare second chance to make critical fiscal reforms after the 2012 elections.

Elliott Abrams argues that Richard Luger seems to have no life at all beyond the U.S. Senate.

Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein discuss their new book, It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism.

"North Korea's impending nuclear test is just the latest illustration of Barack Obama's weakness and naiveté abroad," writes special advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, Richard Williamson, who served in the Reagan White House as an assistant to the president in the 1980s and as the president's special envoy to Sudan in the 2000s.

Peter Orszag works through various approaches U.S. policymakers could take to head off fiscal catastrophe as a storm of tax increases, spending cuts, and a debt ceiling standoff looms at the end of the year.

Peter Orszag argues that policymakers should work to encourage further strides in controlling health-care costs that are already being made outside Washington.

Benn Steil's Financial Times op-ed shows that whereas the impact of the "Buffett Rule" on Warren Buffett's tax liability is trivial, the political capital he has accrued appears to be leveraging his investments.

Robert E. Rubin and Vin Weber argue that the Export-Import Bank is a government agency that increases U.S. jobs and earns money for the Treasury--and deserves bipartisan support.

Frank G. Klotz says the possibility of a total stalemate on the U.S. defense budget looms very large, but with American forces still fighting in Afghanistan, and Iran and North Korea remaining potential flashpoints, the consequences could be grave.