David Yepsen on Gov. Romney

This gets special mention because it comes out of Iowa and doesn't have mention the man's religion once!

• Stopping runaway spending: A good idea and one Republicans used to practice. Romney says the problem goes "beyond pork-barrel spending. We must address entitlement programs." (We await the controversial details of just how he'll do that.)

Indeed. I do as well. This is the first time that I've seen Gov. Romney directly address our real spending problems. It is a wonderful sign that he already is moving beyond the simple problem of pork and will address the long-term fiscal disaster that is slowly coming over the horizon.

President Bush failed on this with his Social Security plan, which was, unfortunately, never even taken up in Congress.