AC

Right now, Washington is roiled by two budget conflicts of vastly different scale. The first is the ongoing fallout from revelations that the General Services Administration has spent lavishly on perks for its employees, including a conference in Las Vegas that cost taxpayers $823,000. The scrutiny of travel by federal employees this episode inspired has turned a small spotlight on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's frequent trips home to California, which have cost the Pentagon $860,000 in the last year. (The defense secretary is not allowed to fly commercial.) The second budget conflict is the fight over President Obama's proposed surtax on rich Americans, known as the "Buffett Rule," which the Senate rejected Monday. The proposal, which would ensure that millionaires pay a marginal tax rate of at least 30 percent, is estimated to raise $46.7 billion over 10 years, according to a government agency that keeps score on these things. Any discussion of...