The House Passes and Bush Signs Bailout:
Along with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tax cuts, the House passed the bill, which was then rushed by car to the White House for George Bush's signature. (See the NPR story.) The vote was 263-171. Quite a turnaround.
The bad news: Things are still going to grow worse.
Is It Greed or Stupidity?
Steven Pearlstein argues in favor of greed in today's Washington Post. He compares a stock boy's desire to earn better than mimimum wage to be a matter of greed, equating self-interest with the former. This has been the argument of neo-liberal free marketers, that a desire to improve one's situation is always equivelent to greed, and, therefore, being greedy is a good thing. It keeps a roof over your head and clothes on your kids' backs.
But the definition of greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves. Greed is usually attached to the notion of depriving others of their just rewards as well. People whose retirement systems may have invested in stocks and bonds can hardly be called greedy. While the CEOs of companies who have walked away from companies that failed under their stewardship with massive amounts of money after having done a job that would have caused a regular employee to be fired are in fact greedy.
In the meantime:
The one time Democrat turned Republican turned Independent mayor of New York City has announced his plans to do away with term limits for the position of Mayor of New York and run again. Unlike George Bush, Mayor Bloomberg's poll numbers are very positive, and most folks think he's actually done a bang up job of mayor-ing the city. His job description doesn't include monitoring Wall Street. And unlike his predecessor, whose most noteable achievements included dressing in drag on Saturday Night Live, Bloomberg has actually achieved a few things in the past eight years. (See The Washington Post story.)
Wall Street Rescued in Time To Watch Main Street March to the Uneployment Line:
The U.S. lost 159,000 jobs last month, the ninth straight month of job losses, adding further fuel to the argument that the Bush administration is the worst ever. Remember the prognosis when he first entered office? And there were no WMD or even any terrorists in Iraq before Bush led the country into that war. (See The New York Times story.)
Oh, well, Blackwater has made millions.
In Case You Haven't Noticed:
The price of oil is down. The weak economy has affected the demand for energy, lowering it. Thus the price per barrel of oil is down, reflected in lower gasoline prices at the pump. That should leave more money in the average American's pocket to buy things and fuel the economy. Some experts argue that it will mean billions of extra dollars in or collective pocket, but will it be enough to push the recovery? (See The New York Times story.)
Along with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tax cuts, the House passed the bill, which was then rushed by car to the White House for George Bush's signature. (See the NPR story.) The vote was 263-171. Quite a turnaround.
The bad news: Things are still going to grow worse.
Is It Greed or Stupidity?
Steven Pearlstein argues in favor of greed in today's Washington Post. He compares a stock boy's desire to earn better than mimimum wage to be a matter of greed, equating self-interest with the former. This has been the argument of neo-liberal free marketers, that a desire to improve one's situation is always equivelent to greed, and, therefore, being greedy is a good thing. It keeps a roof over your head and clothes on your kids' backs.
But the definition of greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves. Greed is usually attached to the notion of depriving others of their just rewards as well. People whose retirement systems may have invested in stocks and bonds can hardly be called greedy. While the CEOs of companies who have walked away from companies that failed under their stewardship with massive amounts of money after having done a job that would have caused a regular employee to be fired are in fact greedy.
In the meantime:
The one time Democrat turned Republican turned Independent mayor of New York City has announced his plans to do away with term limits for the position of Mayor of New York and run again. Unlike George Bush, Mayor Bloomberg's poll numbers are very positive, and most folks think he's actually done a bang up job of mayor-ing the city. His job description doesn't include monitoring Wall Street. And unlike his predecessor, whose most noteable achievements included dressing in drag on Saturday Night Live, Bloomberg has actually achieved a few things in the past eight years. (See The Washington Post story.)
Wall Street Rescued in Time To Watch Main Street March to the Uneployment Line:
The U.S. lost 159,000 jobs last month, the ninth straight month of job losses, adding further fuel to the argument that the Bush administration is the worst ever. Remember the prognosis when he first entered office? And there were no WMD or even any terrorists in Iraq before Bush led the country into that war. (See The New York Times story.)
Oh, well, Blackwater has made millions.
In Case You Haven't Noticed:
The price of oil is down. The weak economy has affected the demand for energy, lowering it. Thus the price per barrel of oil is down, reflected in lower gasoline prices at the pump. That should leave more money in the average American's pocket to buy things and fuel the economy. Some experts argue that it will mean billions of extra dollars in or collective pocket, but will it be enough to push the recovery? (See The New York Times story.)
Labels: Politics, The Economy
posted by Jim | 5:31 PM
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