The national government, burdened with the biggest debt load among the advanced industrialized countries, can't dish out cash the way it did in the good old days of turbocharged growth.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Japan: Japan's Governors Take Aim at Mighty Tokyo

Our children are coming out of high school -- in some cases, they're not even graduating high school, but even if they graduate from high school -- ranked lower on math and science scores than many other advanced industrialized countries.

WHITEHOUSE: Town Hall in Arnold, Missouri