I told you so 7 months ago in my TMV post dated 3/19/09 and titled “It’s Time to Throw Geithner under the Bus.” Considering the growing chorus from the left, right and middle now calling for his termination or resignation, I re-read my original post. As always, I was prescient, accurate, and possibly clairvoyant on this matter. Yours truly also predicted this entire economic collapse at least 5 years...

Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), writing in CNN, says he plans to oppose raising the debt ceiling what the issue comes up for a vote next month. He’s unwilling to raise this ceiling, he writes, unless “Congress adopts a credible process to balance our books and eliminate the red ink” — and he wants to form a “debt commission” to start the process. A debt commission will...

While many proposed infrastructure expenditures are long-overdue and greatly needed across our country, most of the projects will take years to plan, design, meet various regulatory requirements, and build. Associated new employment will be well-paying but cannot materialize quickly. Furthermore, they constitute a long-term policy for the country separate from the immediate need to address high unemployment...

Ezra Klein reads over 2,000 pages of legislative language so you don’t have to. His conclusion: This bill is a “grand bargain” that achieves impressive levels of coverage while still cutting costs:

Warren suggested a Financial Product Safety Commission in a 2007 article; Obama proposed it to Congress in June as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Speculation is (wishes?) she could head the agency. Bloomberg.com profiles her life: Warren began at George Washington at 17. At 19, she married mathematician Jim Warren, who worked at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and finished her degree at the...

National Healthcare Insurance Reform has moved a bit closer to reality, though it could still be derailed in the Senate. We now have a House Bill and a Senate Bill that will have to be merged into a single bill via an appointed Joint Conference Committee. The committee members will be chosen by Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so a final bill can be written and voted upon by the Senate...

The entire text is online. It’s 2,074 pages. Via Ron Chusid, who has a reading plan:

WASHINGTON — Normal human beings — let’s call them real Americans — cannot understand why, 10 months after President Obama’s inauguration, Congress is still tied down in a procedural torture chamber trying to pass the health care bill Obama promised in his campaign. Last year, the voters gave him the largest popular vote margin won by a presidential candidate in 20 years. They...

The media will continue to speculate about the outcome of President Barack Obama’s visit to China. However, small gestures matter. The Times of London observes that Obama carrying his own umbrella while alighting from the Air Force One “may be just the right stick for China”. “Perhaps that simple umbrella moment really mattered. It showed China’s people that the arrogant America of...

He came. He saw. His charisma was controlled. That in a nutshell seems to be the emerging verdict on President Barack Obama’s trip to China: China kept the famous Obama charisma in check in a visit that won’t be seen as a turning point. AFP paints a portrait of a visit that was more zzzz than pizazz: Something got lost in transit in US President Barack Obama’s visit to China — the charismatic...

It’s an indisputable statement, but not exactly one destined to build taxpayer confidence in their government. Responding to an ABC News investigation into stimulus data being reported for non-existent Congressional districts, the Recovery Board’s Communications Director, Ed Pound, is quoted as saying: We report what the recipients submit to us … Some recipients clearly don’t know what...

Amelia Tyagi, on Marketplace today, arguing that a Consumer Financial Protection Association could help level the playing field and force banks to be honest with their customers: Once upon a time, banking was a pretty boring business. Banks took deposits, made loans, and people paid them back. Profits were modest but predictable. And then the industry was deregulated, and all bets were off. No longer did banks...

One of the goals Barack Obama set for his presidency was the elimination of hunger among children by 2015. Whether or not he achieves that goal, Obama is the first American president even to commit to achieving it. Having said that, he has a difficult road ahead of him, because more Americans — including children — are living with hunger at least some of the time:

The murderous Mexican drug cartels are known for their viciousness conducting their illicit trade. U.S. drug manufactures are less sanguine but equally adept at protecting their profits. In anticipation of new health reform legislation that would curb their oligarchy, drug makers have raised their prices about 9% this past year while the Consumer Price Index has fallen by 1.3% during the same period. The widely...

Some feel that those who did not support the invasion and occupation of Iraq do not support the troops. It is my conviction that supporting the troops is more than just supporting a war. There are millions of Americans who do not support this or that war, but certainly respect, honor, love, and, yes, support the troops—not just through bumper stickers or yellow ribbons, but through concrete acts of charity,...

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd batted spiritedly during his recent India visit and delivered a googly to bypass ticklish issues and move on to substantive bilateral economic and strategic issues that would help strengthen ties between India and Australia. Rudd squarely faced the contentious issues of racial violence against Indian students in Australia, as also the continuing ban on the supply of uranium...

The U.S. is facing massive structural unemployment – possibly for years to come. We can use a few but not all the ideas from the past because the world, and our nation’s private sector and Federal government, are significantly different from the 1930’s. THE DISMAL NUMBERS The past decade was remarkable for its miserable job growth and generally stagnant wages, even though the total U.S. population...

WASHINGTON — For some years, Democrats have denounced parodies casting their party as utterly closed to the views of those who oppose abortion. Last weekend, Democrats proved conclusively that they are, indeed, a big tent — and many in the ranks are furious. From the outraged comments of the abortion rights movement, you’d think that Rep. Bart Stupak’s amendment to the House version...

The latest tale of woe regarding administration claims of jobs “saved or created” by the porkulous bill comes to us from Massachusetts. The lede to this story pretty much says it all. While Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus money collectively report 12,374 jobs saved or created, a Globe review shows that number is wildly exaggerated. Organizations that received stimulus money miscounted...

In his excellent post honoring our veterans, Jazz Shaw mentioned that “The debt we owe to our returning heroes runs much deeper than a free pass to Disneyland.” While we have come a long way in how we treat our veterans and in improving the benefits and services our veterans receive, especially under the leadership of Gen. Eric Shinseki, we still have a long way to go. In particular, as mentioned...

Anti-abortion and pro-life advocates successfully added an Amendment to the House Health Reform Bill that prohibited any Federal Funds from subsidizing private insurance purchases by individuals and families on public exchanges that would cover abortions. Pro-abortion and pro-choice advocates cried foul and the amendment constituted an impermissible limit on a woman’s right to choose. The President also...

Warren Buffet is nobody’s fool when it comes to global business and investing. We should all heed his suggestion to invest in America’s Railroads and private companies designing, building and maintaining key national and regional infrastructure projects around the world. We won’t be able to buy BNSF shares for a short time since Berkshire Hathaway will own 100% of it, but within the next few years, there...

From the very outset of the health reform legislation debate, I had this premonition that when the House and Senate bills reached the conference committee for reconciliation, President Barack Obama would come charging to the rescue like the hero wearing the white hat in those old western movies. He still may do that if the Senate manages to actually pass a bill but he is quickly running out of ammunition. He...

I recently wrote about how Goldman Sachs said they are doing “God’s Work” to which Yves Smith replies: Great! Then they should be willing to do it for free. I don’t recall the Bible discussing Jesus getting eight or nine figure compensation (or what passed for it back then), and the Gautama Buddha, born a prince, gave up all the trappings of wealth. Touché.

Matthew Yglesias wrote this a few days ago, but I didn’t blog about it then, and right now at the present moment there are a bunch of people who need to be told this. Not that it will make any difference of course, but here it is anyway.