I was on Morning Joe this morning, talking about the bailout. Right after my segment, CNBC's Mark Haines came on and, armed with lots of hostility and no facts, started taking shots at me, calling me, among other things, "clueless." Haines, clearly still wearing his Wall Street blinders -- and still speaking out for the Marie Antoinettes of the Meltdown -- was apoplectic over my suggestion that taxpayers should stop subsidizing equity holders in insolvent banks. "She has no idea what she's saying... I mean, let's get it right," he sputtered. Yes, Mark, by all means, let's get it right -- because I missed the chapter in Adam Smith where is says that equity holders in insolvent banks need to be paid taxpayer-funded dividends. Did you say "clueless"?
The harsh reality that is being repressed is this: the Western world is suffering a crisis of excessive indebtedness.
What will the Obama administration do with the banks that are now on life support? The decision -- with new announcements rumored for next week -- is critical to any recovery plan.
The only thing more implausible than believing that a multi-millionaire with national ambitions would willfully try to defraud the IRS of $140,000 is believing that a man like that actually does his own taxes.
Instead of policies based on extreme ideology, we need to start a new dialogue about reproductive and sexual health that is based on sound, science-based public policies.
Consider this post a correction of my earlier impressions of him. Throughout our exchange last night, Len was pretty candid, even blunt. Since he's been retired, he finally has opinions.
The existing 401(k) system is a scam far greater than anything Bernie Madoff could have conceived. But a new website may change everything.
I flashed back to 2004 when Phelps was arrested for a DUI. He was 19, fresh off Athens and the magazine where I worked was honoring him for being a role model for young people.
Blogs, which rarely drew wide notice in 2004 and were derided by some as a silly, passing fancy, earned a place in the second paragraph of the top New York Times story on Election Day 2008.
If we are going to spend two trillion dollars (and most likely more) trying to deal with the economic crisis, shouldn't we do it right?
If Palin hopes to lead the GOP out of its rut, she will first and foremost need to transcend her current role as the character children see on the front of a GOP cereal box.
What we need is an honest accounting of how we got into this mess, beginning with an investigation of the role of Goldman Sachs as the most insidious Wall Street player.
We have now learned that neither Faith Hill nor Jennifer Hudson performed live at Sunday's Super Bowl. If they're not going to allow the "live" performers to perform live, how hard is it to tell us?
There are millions of moderate Muslims in the world, and they, too, are looking for a "new deal." A president with the name of Barack Hussein Obama presents an opportunity, but the opening may not last long.
President Obama is mulling a controversial new tax program that would require members of his Cabinet to pay taxes owed under the Federal tax code, the White House confirmed today.
Gregg's record of previously voting to abolish the Commerce Department and his attempts to block President Clinton's efforts to secure adequate funding for the 2000 census raise troubling concerns.
The Daschle-Geithner-Killefer tax goof is based on an almost-unconscious hope that the system they theoretically want to work ... won't.
Tom Daschle's withdrawal leaves an opening at Health and Human Services. Howard Dean is the man for that job.
When it comes to poverty, virtually every new administration makes the same predictable mistakes that exponentially increase the misery index for the poor.
