I'll get back to the story of Bodhidharma tomorrow - I enjoy telling it and want to talk about the meaning of his "I don't know" - but unfortunately I first have to discuss today's events in Congress. Brace yourselves for some knee-jerk liberalism.

Today marked the first day of the new Congress, with Republicans in command of the House and a large share of the Senate, and they continue to spout what Robert Reich calls the Big Lie, that our economic problems are due to a government that’s too large, and therefore the solution is to shrink it down to a size, as Grover Norquist once so charmingly put it, one could "drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." According to Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), "The American people sent us to Congress with clear instructions: make government smaller, not bigger." Deficit reduction "isn’t a Republican problem or a Democrat problem," she said, "it’s an American problem that will require tough decision-making from both parties."

And the way to shrink the deficit, they argue, is to cut government. The extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts over the next two years wasn't a concession to the wealthy at the expense of an increased deficit, but was, according to Senator Ayotte, an "important first step" to jump-start the economy. Their majority in the House not even a day old, the Republicans have now announced that they are now ready to pass a bill to repeal the recent health-care reform.

But the truth is that our economic problems stem not from too much Government spending but from the largest concentration of income and wealth at the top since 1928, combined with stagnant incomes for most of the rest of us. The result, as Reich points out in his fine blog, is that Americans no longer have the purchasing power to keep the economy going at full capacity. "Since the debt bubble burst," we writes, "most Americans have had to reduce their spending; they need to repay their debts, can’t borrow as before, and must save for retirement.

The short-term solution is for government to counteract this shortfall by spending more, not less. The long-term solution is to spread the benefits of economic growth more widely. Reich even suggests specific examples of how to do this, such as a more progressive income tax, a larger EITC, an exemption on the first $20K of income from payroll taxes and application of payroll taxes to incomes over $250K, stronger unions, and more and better investments in education and infrastructure.

But instead of focusing on the future, the Republicans want to put insurance companies back in charge of health care, to go back to the days when these companies could deny coverage to children based on pre-existing conditions, cancel coverage when people got sick, or limit the care you could receive -- even when you needed more. When seniors would be forced to choose between paying their mortgage and paying for their prescription drugs, simply because they landed in the "donut hole" in coverage.

Two years ago, millions of Americans stood up and said they were ready for common-sense solutions after years of fraud and abuse, for a new era of responsibility after unchecked power. The Affordable Care Act and other reforms passed because, after 100 years of debate and negotiation, they said they would wait no longer for health reform. But the House Republicans are putting the car in reverse and heading straight toward the ditch out of which we just spent two years climbing.

In his first weekly address of the year, the President restated his commitment for 2011 "to do everything I can to make sure our economy is growing, creating jobs, and strengthening our middle class." He added that it’s important "to look ahead - not just to this year, but to the next 10 years, and the next 20 years" to find ways to stimulate the economy through innovations. The world is still emerging from a recession that took a toll on millions of families, many of whom are still trying to get their lives back on track. The Affordable Care Act and Wall Street reform were important steps forward on the road to recovery, and we have an obligation to ensure our progress is not rewritten by the insurance industry and big banks.

Okay, that's off my chest. What's the point of having a blog if you can't rant every once in a while? Back to 6th Century China tomorrow.