Obama’s GM Gaffe

Obama’s strong words on GM may come back to bite him (BBC):
“Our auto industry is the foundation for economies all across the Midwest,” Mr Obama said.
“Had we allowed GM or Chrysler simply to liquidate that would have been a huge anti-stimulus on the economy as a whole, and could have dragged us even deeper into [...]

Tax Havens Are Un-American

When you realize that nearly a $100 billion, annually, in tax revenue is going unpaid by large corporations, you have to wonder where are their tea parties?  Where are the pundits questioning the patriotism of companies that are so clearly helping send our country into debt by skirting federal taxes?  Are any of the companies [...]

Anger: Markets and the Reverse Galt Reality

Watching Jon Stewart eviscerate Cramer, MSNBC and Financial Reporting was a cathartic experience.  All the more so with the rash of movement conservatives and talking heads putting Ayn Rand on a pedestal and contemplating the virtues of Going Galt.  Because the idea being “Going Galt” is that it is the CEO’s who are the wealth [...]

Michael Steele – The New Fail

Republicans have chosen another winner to head their party, Michael Steele made abundantly clear in a weekly address:
In the weekly Republican address, Steele said of Congressional Democrats:
“For the last two weeks, they’ve been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.”
Steele said Republicans are ready to work with [...]

Republican Opposition Backfires: The Stimulus and Family Planning Aid

The conventional wisdom was that the Republicans made a smart move by opposing Obama’s efforts to reach out to them over the stimulus:
Voting against the bill was good politics because it shows that the GOP can’t be persuaded by charm alone, presidential or otherwise. Sure, Republicans risk coming off as stubborn in the face of [...]

New Bank Bailout to Cost 793 Trillion

The new bank bailout will cost a lot.  That’s ok.  I don’t mind paying for the failures of Gree Market* policy and blind financial prognosticating by still-employed economic opinon-makers.  At this point the stimulus is so costly as to effectively be in imaginary dollars anyway.
The banks have gone from keeping how they spent our tax-money [...]

The Porn Bailout?!

This is fucked up.  Via HuffPost:
An article in next month’s Atlantic asks, “Is porn recession proof?” According to porn magnate Larry Flynt and “Girls Gone Wild” king Joe Francis, the answer is no.
TMZ reports that the pornographer pair is heading to Washington to ask for a $5 billion porn bailout:
“With all this economic misery [...]

Oh If Only

Culture of Life + Unions = WIN

Unemployed for A Year

The NYPost has an upbeat article about the laid off banker who found a new job after walking the streets with a sandwich board proclaiming “MIT Grad for hire” (emphasis mine):
An out-of-work banker who became a symbol of the looming financial crisis by trudging Manhattan streets wearing a sign advertising “MIT grad for hire” has [...]

Your Job and Your Mind

I once heard an annectdote about a clever lawyer who gave prospective hires a psychological assesment, and only hired those with father issues.  He’d then act paternal enough to manipulate them into competing with each other for scraps, noting “If they knew how much they were worth they’d leave for another firm”.
I don’t know how [...]

Sarah Palin: Staggering Idiot

Check out the SNL Parody of Palin’s interview with Katie Couric.
Here’s a short piece from the real thing:

Transcript.
To quote Andrew Sullivan:
How does McCain win an election with a national joke as his running-mate?
What’s more interesting, to me, is why so many Americans have such a positive view of Palin, and are [...]

Why Does a Strong Economy Need a Bailout?

If the economy is as strong as John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Condoleezza Rice suggest, why do we need the bailout?

700 Billion Gone

700 Billion or more gone if we don’t act.  The Democrats are ready to sit down with the Republicans and talk turkey.  Our turkey:
“We now have between House and Senate Democrats an agreement on what we think should be in the bill, and we have a meeting scheduled at 10 a.m. tomorrow to meet with [...]

Will the Inclusion of Foreign Banks Stop the Bailout?

The 700 billion dollar bailout is generating justified rage.  Will the inclusion of foreign banks in the US taxpayer funded bailout be enough to sink it?
Right now, the Republicans are taking the heat for the economy.  If the Democrats pass this bill, that is going to change quickly.
Johnathan Schwarz:
Write and call your representative and senators [...]

The Recession Is Mental… What?

McCain is weak on the economy.  He knows this, so he’s got to compensate with a crack advisory team.  Phil Gramm leads the pack:
In an interview with the Washington Times, McCain’s top economic adviser Phil Gramm tells America to suck it up and stop complaining about the economy:
“You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a [...]