Nicholas von Hoffman, a veteran newspaper, radio and TV reporter and columnist, is the author, most recently, of Radical: A Portrait of Saul Alinsky, due out this month from Nation Books.
Wall Street was buoyed by the appointment of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. But that can't offset worries that deflation will compound our economic woes.
A little under $300 billion of the $700 billion bailout has been invested, loaned out or lost. And as long as Henry Paulson's in charge, we won't know where it went.
Saving jobs by giving automakers large amounts of cash is a very expensive form of trickle-down. What we need is a clear plan about how automakers will use the money.
Obama can change the way Washington does business by mobilizing the same grassroots ground operation that got him elected to push his legislative agenda.
When the markets calm down, liquidity returns and we are sunk in the inevitable recession, America can remake itself into a saner, more humane society.