You have to wonder. Half to three-quarters of the American public doesn't believe in evolution (depending on how you define it). One out of three Americans thinks the budget deficit can be eliminated (a) by hoping (or praying) that it goes away (8 percent) or (b) by cutting taxes even more (25 percent). Anti-scientific, un-arithmetic thinking seems to be rampant. But has The New Republic gone over to the dark side, too?

New projections from the congressional Budget Office suggest that this year's deficit will be $75 billion or so less than last year's record level. Similar figures will be reported by the Bush administration just after this column goes to press. The right is already claiming victory.

“Our policies continue to boost the economy and tax revenues,” says Representative Jim Nussle, chairman of the House Budget Committee. “These numbers prove what we've said all along,” chimed in House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Indeed, claims Stephen Moore in The Wall Street Journal, “the numbers are an eye-popping vindication of the Laffer Curve.”