Now that the stimulus plan has passed, the second guessing has already begun: It wasn't enough. it won't be effective. It isn't directly stimulative. Well, if it wasn't sufficient, it's going to be very hard to get more money out of congress considering the opposition to this one. In light of that, here's a stimulus idea that costs almost nothing: Why not allow recently laid off workers to apply their unemployment benefits toward their next job in the form of a voucher? In other words, let them (if they so choose) subsidize a portion of their next salary by underwriting a chunk of it with their benefit.
By rising above their bait and merely presenting a contrast of character, President Obama is making the Republican A-listers appear small, petty and absolutely befuddled.
It is relevant to our own day, while respecting Abraham Lincoln's appreciation for historical experience, to recall his appreciation for the need for change.
So much has been written about the bank rescue announcement by Treasury Secretary Geithner, and a clear verdict has set in -- the details were missing and the plan was far too scant to soothe the markets.
The taxpayers should take over the bad assets in return for bank equity, but with a twist: the amount of equity transferred to the taxpayers would not be determined immediately.
What does the unrelated cast of characters featured in this evening's newscast have in common? They all benefited from the tax cuts and deregulation policies of George W. Bush.
The Treasury seems in danger of pandering to the Wall Street beast, rather than protecting the vulnerable -- those companies where real wealth is created.
American culture, having had its higher ambitions whittled down most notably during the Bush years, perpetuates messages which teach us that it's okay, indeed preferable, to be downright mediocre.
It's reassuring to know that in these tough fiscal times, Congress is not only listening to Wall Street CEOs, but that they are also listening to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
If 4,000 have sacrificed their lives in Iraq, another 20,000 their limbs and another 100,000+ their mental health, one wonders why asking Wall Streeters to sacrifice part of their wallets would be unpatriotic?
Rarely in the rich history of congressional stonings have the victims been so crisply-attired, so contrite, so deferential, and so tolerant of their grandstanding captors.
Rep. Solis has been forced to wait and watch while a few Republican Senators try to make political hay of her husband's small business tax woes.
You wanna say, "Boy, I don't think this is gonna work," or , "This is the dumbest plan I've ever seen" -- great. God bless. This is America. But to incite millions to hope for failure?
The worst irony may be that those of us clucking over her excesses also help feed the frenzy of attention that will allow her to cash in on her horribly pathological choices.
Reed, who has spent eight of the last ten years on the run, entering Ivy League schools under adopted fake identities, and evading cops along the way, was sentenced today to over four years in prison.
There's a new kind of father-daughter relationship. Young women are educated, oriented and dedicated to making their way in a world of work -- territory that their fathers have patrolled for decades.
"The nation's economy is in a crisis that could easily turn into a catastrophe," the Treasury Secretary said. "In this precarious state, it is highly vulnerable to my talking."
Nadya Suleman may have been the one to selfishly create an entire litter of children she could barely take care of, but a lot of people within the media told her there was no harm in it.
Isn't it time to end the debate about whether or not media shapes society or merely mirrors it and consider the real life examples of media as a singularly powerful agent of change.
