-
FROM AP: 10 Things to Know for Today
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Social Security appears to be a key bargaining chip in the struggle over the debt limit. But the truth is that Social Security checks can go out, in their full amount, without adding a penny to the federal government's total debt.
Obama's refusal to take the fight to Senate Republicans by nominating Elizabeth Warren should be taken as the vital measure of the man. This gutless decision comes after the president populated his administration with the very people who created the financial meltdown.
The most striking lessons from the financial crisis and its aftermath already appear either to have been forgotten or to have never been learned. The American financial system can still be brought to its knees by the poor decisions of a small group of executives.
The lesson for Democrats in 2012 was taught by Harry Reid in 2010, who fought back ferociously and obliterated Sharron Angle to be reelected.
In a time of budgetary crisis, an Infrastructure Bank can finance an infrastructure platform for surge manufacturing.
Democrats should be enjoying a nice political windfall thanks to the Republicans' blunder on Medicare. But watch for the bipartisan Gang of Six to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.
The bailout and stimulus money allowed us to limp along for a couple of years. Now we are back to where we started, but worse, since we borrowed trillions to pay for it.
With the general "no banker left behind" program pursued by Tim Geithner under both George W. Bush and Obama, the theory was that saving the banks would save the country. The first part worked out brilliantly, but the second act never occurred.
Perhaps the main value of the book and film versions of Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big to Fail is the instruction they provide on the limits of mainstream journalism in the decade that led up to the meltdown.
The Republicans repeatedly say "F you" to everyone in this country except for the elite wealthy and big corporations. The party has moved so far to the right, its core policies are far out of the American mainstream.
It's official. As of Monday, May 16, the United States of America has reached its debt limit. But the sky didn't the sky fall. People are not running in the streets in chaos. The stock and bond markets haven't crashed. So what's the big deal?
President Obama was dazzling in his decision-making to send U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six to get Osama bin Laden. It's now time for him to adopt this same laser-like focus on creating jobs.
The egregious mis-characterization of Obama's outlook has profound consequences for our nation's well-being. Three areas in particular warrant scrutiny.
In the ever-so-smug company of the rich and powerful it is a given that there is never to be any expression of remorse or other acknowledgment of the pain they have inflicted on the lesser mortals they so cavalierly plunder.
We have one trade problem in this country that so far surpasses every other one that it is almost not worth talking about any of the others. The problem is Chinese subsidy practices.
All small businesses are not the same. Until this is registered and embraced by our legislators, this country will not succeed in its efforts to promote economic growth through innovation or unleash our full capacity to compete globally.
