It won't sit well with congressional Democrats, but the president's top economic advisor, Gene Sperling, told a business group that Democrats are likely going to have to accept entitlement cuts if they want any sort of increase in "investments." Business Week: Here's some of what Sperling had to say. He led off with the importance of entitlement cuts. (All emphasis is mine): "Sometimes here [in Washington] we start to think that the end goal of our public policy is to hit a particular budget or spending or revenue metric--as if those are the goals in and of itself. But it's important to remember that each of these metrics ... are means to larger goals. ... Right now, I think there is among a lot of people a consensus as to what the ingredients of a pro-growth fiscal policy are. It would be a fiscal policy that--yes--did give more confidence in the long run that we have a path on entitlement spending and revenues that gives confidence in our long-term fiscal position and that...(Read Full Post)