Debate Prep: Put Poverty on the Agenda Tonight | "As you work to find a solution to the global financial crisis, please do not waiver in your support for the world's poorest people."
John Nichols
Posted at 5:18 PM EST
Bush's Failing Financial "Surge" | How the Bush administration applied Iraq-style methods to its financial Katrina.
Tom Engelhardt
Expert Failure | How the elites failed us.
Christopher Hayes
Who's Watching the Fox at Treasury? | As the Bush administration outsources management of the bailout bonanza, how many more Goldman Sachs alums will fill these critical posts?
Katrina vanden Heuvel
S. Dakota Goes After Choice (Again) | Meet the Rev. Steve Hickey. He believes that S. Dakota has been chosen by God to upend Roe v. Wade.
Peter Rothberg
Brits Say: We Can't Win in Afghan | More troops will make it worse, not better. They add: It's time to negotiate with the Taliban.
Robert Dreyfuss
Palin: “Just Trying to Give Tina Fey More Material" | Veep candidate declares Afghanistan "our neighboring country."
John Nichols
Are You the Very Model of a Modern Vice-President? | Sarah's not the only one with a special skill.
Katha Pollitt
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Neither. It is a recession already & it will grow more severe, lasting up to 2 years, not nearly as long as the Great Depression. Some New Deal checks are still in place. Nevertheless, many will suffer, much will be lost.
This assumes an Obama presidency. But if it's McCain, it could grow much, much worse.
Posted by sloper at 03/26/2008
I concur. It's likely to fall between the two options offered, though the long term outlook for America as a whole is somewhat bleak if we don't figure out how to significantly reduce our defense budget into the sane region of the spectrum, and begin to pump massive investments into our technical, industrial, educational and general physical infrastructure.
And then there's the looming shadow of human induced global climate change that will soon cast its pall over all. We'll need to begin designing a sophisticated system for carbon sequestration soon if we wish to avoid the worst of the coming calamity.
Unfortunately for the biosphere, a mass extinction event --the last one of similar magnitude took out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago-- is already well underway. Talk about learning a lesson the hard way. We'll have the next ten million years or so to think about our mistake while the planet (hopefully) recovers.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 03/26/2008
Correction to below: Our so-called defense budget.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 03/26/2008
The reason that I think that it's not the "big one" has to do w/ the floor of entitlements that will help to sustain incomes. These were not available in the 30's. HOWEVER, I believe the republicans would like a "big one" so that they could introduce economic "shock therapy" a la Chile, Argentina, etc.
Posted by Denverdem at 03/26/2008
The good ole USA is sinking in a mire of its own making. Without a sweeping change in regulations and public works programs it will sink into a deep slump. We are no longer to the go to guys. China and Russia are working hard to make that happen as are Bush and Cheney and the Neo-Cons and their "free market buddies".
Posted by Robob at 03/27/2008
No matter how we look at the economy, we are in big trouble. All of the deregulation, that has happened over the last 30 years, has allowed coporations to screw the American people and make huge profits. I think the first thing that needs to happen, is to STOP all outsourcing and for companies that send jobs outside the country, they should be taxed at a level that will make them understand the America has to come before profits, lets say a 45% tax on all profits. Companies need to understand, if Americans have jobs then they will have their profits. The second thing, we need to get away from printing money just because we are in a bind, all that is doing is making the problem worse. Third thing, we need to STOP relying/accepting money, from other countries, to fix our problems. We have become a dependent country instead of an independent country.
Posted by lvdragonlady at 03/27/2008
"Neither. It is a recession already & it will grow more severe, lasting up to 2 years, not nearly as long as the Great Depression. Some New Deal checks are still in place. Nevertheless, many will suffer, much will be lost.
This assumes a McCain presidency. But if it's Obama or Clinton, it's a sure bet to be much worse."
edited for accuracy
Posted by dealwithit at 03/27/2008
After a disastrous interventionist campaign in Afghanistan, excessive and unsupportable military spending, and an oil price collapse brought on by international economic action, the Soviet Union collapsed. Are we seeing these conditions roll into position for the US Empire? Will we collapse. I don't know, but it looks ominous. If it happens, it will happen with blinding speed, just as it did in the late,great USSR. Stay tuned!
Posted by Moderatus at 03/27/2008
put your head in your $*()$ and say bye!! I am off to Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan....for only god knows why!!! but who cares......
This assumes a McCain "I know nothing about the economy" and "we should be in Iraq for 100 years" presidency....assuming he remembers his first term, his job title, or who we are supposed to be fighting or why...and he is not still in vietnam.....otherwise....it could grow much, much worse......
BTW: how did Kerry get swiftboated for fighting the same war that McCain boasts about??? only because McCain got captured, it makes that much difference??? Bush couldn't even show up for National Guard duty and Rather got booted because he wouldn't verify his sources, even though other documents proved it!!!!
Somebody please enlighten everybody else...why are there two different standards?????
Why can Hillary tell us here in NY that she will give every child in the country $5000 if she is elected and nobody reports it???
I think she is evil, but if that is in writing, I guess we should take what we can???? If Richardson is "judas" does that make hillary God or Jesus????
Posted by jrs112 at 03/28/2008
We will still be squabbling about how deep the economic abyss is when the sea levels rise over our heads. When we stop putting growth ahead of the environment as a priority, then, and only then, we might be able to stop antarctica from coming into our living rooms.
Posted by badtimmay at 03/28/2008
The Keynesian solution of deficit spending to stimulate the economy has been exhausted. The government itself is going "bankrupt" as it continues to spend beyond its means to support its imperial enterprises and to bail out the bankrupt financial institutions. The debt burden - public, private and corporate - has been rising steadily since WWII and has reached grotesquely insupportable levels. The government can only bail out this bankrupt economy at the cost of a runaway inflation and a complete collapse of the world financial structure. So we are in for a blow; perhaps worse than the Great Depression.
It will be a period of intense struggle over who will bear the cost of liquidating the debt structure so the economy can restart. Will it be a "new deal" of the deck, or will this cycle's losers have to start the next one with a foot on their necks? The rich will squeal that all efforts to reestablish fairness are "communism", efforts to destroy the system, robbery, based on class hatred. They will fight viciously, and the danger of fascism will be intense, as it was in the 30's. The working people will need to get our minds around what is really happening and why quickly, which will require greatly improved communication outside the control of the mainstream media. On this the Nation can play a role.
The current front line in this battle: the SEIU and the AFL-CIO are leading the fight against foreclosure.
The issue needs to be raised now about whether the world can stand another period of capitalist expansion like the one that lasted from 1940 to 2008 when this is over, and if not how can we establish an economy that can grow responsibly, without ecological plunder and without repeating the cycle of debt accumulation. As the wealthy become ever more outrageous in their attacks on the people, many will be provoked into thinking more deeply about this.
Posted by CAH at 03/28/2008
We need a Revolution of thought starting with communication. This economic crises is all because of the corrupt goverment(both Republican and Democrate)'s failure to look after the public interest and instead protect their corporate one.We are now looking at these thieves to solve the problems they created (using our money!). This is complete and utter Insanity!.THE ONLY WAY to begin to solve these problems is through ourselves, and our ability to communicate and make decisions- free of corporate manipulation. By mandating free wireless access for everybody in this country it would at least give people an avenue to bypass all these old legacy institutions, or at the very least a better chance to organize and to change them. Their is no reason why we should pay any middlemen, who take their profits and more often than not use them against us by influencing policy decisions.The most powerful tool we have is choice, or if i can state it better the decision not to choose, these failing systems we pay for(Healthcare,Education,Energy,infrastructure,Agriculture).After all the consumer makes up 3/4 of this economy. Through open and free dialog we can begin to look within ourselves for the answers and individually and collectivelly tackle these problems on a global scale. Corporate America will say it cannot be done and it will be the ruin of us all. We can look at the Music industry as an example of the choice it has opened up to the individual who is free to choose their music now imagine that choice in the palm of your hand as it applies to all your purchasing decisions.This is just a starting point but everything must start somewhere. If anyone cares there is a avenue which has the promise of delivering this service it is called meraki.com I'am not affiliated nor have any financial interest in this enterprise. but it offers the possiblity for a secure and free sharing of the net to a community.If their are better options please share. Thanks for your time
Posted by Gcanno at 03/31/2008
Well, we can vote by cell phone, one day. Obama hit the nail on the head when he mused about the de-regulation from the Treasury Department and the SEC and the "bubble" effect it has versus a sustainable growth economy, which requires some oversight. The institutions have changed, and thhe insight, the auditing, the encouraging better corporate citizenship is the foundation of his angle on things.
He also states clearly that the well-being of the average American citizen has an impact on Wall Street, and that investment in infrastructure is the way to encourage a more stable economy.
Posted by Jim Willingham at 04/1/2008