Here at Remapping Debate, we only have the resources to report on the fraction of the stories we’d like to cover. On the other hand, if some of our Big Brothers and Big Sisters eased up just a little on the horse race articles, there would be plenty of time to report on a variety of important stories that are hiding in plain site — like these:

Governors Christie and Cuomo: the “shared sacrifice” twins?

February 23, 2011 — Both ask for shared sacrifice. Both demand deep cuts in Medicaid. Each draws the line at having that sacrifice include an income tax surcharge on the highest income residents of the state (Governor Cuomo insists that a current surcharge should be allowed to expire; Governor Christie insists that he is not open to the enactment of one). Why would a modest additional contribution from those who could most easily afford it be deemed out of bounds?

The Social Security solution that dare not speak its name

February 23, 2011 — Jacob Lew, the Obama administration’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote earlier this week that “Social Security does not cause our deficits” and that the program’s “benefits are entirely self-financing.” But he then went on to write that, “Strengthening Social Security is an important, but parallel, issue that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.”

So how does the Obama administration plan to “strengthen” Social Security as quickly as possible? Is strengthening a euphemism for raising the retirement age further over the long term? And why won’t a solution that incontrovertibly makes the system more sound — eliminating the exclusion of earnings above about $106,000 from the payroll tax — be seriously discussed in polite media or political circles?