Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

You have got to be kidding me: Senate Democratic leadership has announced who will be serving on the conference committee to iron out differences in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa Appropriations...

I have recently been posting on the upcoming Obama administration’s decision on how many (if any) additional Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter aircraft to purchase. The decision will be based on a multitude of factors and considerations. In previous, and probably in ongoing and future deliberations, another fifth generation fighter aircraft being developed by Lockheed Martin—the F-35 Lightning II—has...

Wells Fargo canceled an expensive shindig for its executives, said shindig a PR no-no now that the bank is receiving TARP funds. In this Guest Voice post, cross-posted from his blog, James Hertsch of In the Alternative, argues that the “savings” are mostly just PR and that over-the-top criticism is unjustified. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TMV or its writers. Dudgeon...

Is a trade war about to brake out between the United States and the People’s Republic of China? U.S. talk of Chinese currency manipulation has raised hackles in Beijing, and they have responded. This article from China’s strictly-controlled China Daily might be summarized this way: “You [the U.S.] had better not start a trade war – but if you do, America will be hurt more than China...

It would be premature to comment with much authority on Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s national press conference Tuesday because it lacked too many details. Generally, it was greeted by a sour response from the banking industry and investors. The Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq each fell more than 4 percent in late afternoon...

In this national nightmare, it’s hard to tell if all the voices we hear are real or the products of overheated imaginations. Was that the new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele saying that the Obama stimulus plan was “laughable” and that the economic mess is only “about 18 months old. The reality of it is, Bush inherited a recession. He got us through that recession”? Could...

The stock market took a dive today. The Dow dropped more than 380 points. Why? Because the financial life support program announced by the new Secretary of the Treasury has a “stress test” provision. More specifically, in order to get government bailout money in the future banks will have to prove that, even if economic times get tougher, they will be able to repay government loans. For anyone who...

If you’re seeking, as I have been, a more detailed comparison of the competing House and Senate stimuli than is typically available in the MSM, check out this post at ProPublica. Reviewing that analysis, one would think the right leaners would be quite pleased with the compromise version, especially the increase in “Tax Cuts,” the total for which is up nearly $76B in the Senate versus House...

The Senate has passed President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus bill with a smidgen of Republican support — but Round Three could be the most difficult stage yet, as the Senate and House try to reconcile differences that some on each side consider irreconcilable. Or are they? The Washington Post reports: The Senate today passed an economic stimulus bill that President Obama and congressional Democrats...

Until the bank situation is resolved the stimulus can’t really help stimulate much at all. I have concerns about it specifically but everyone should recognize that it is just a drop in the bucket compared to the most pressing concern. So, how is their plan for that going? Let’s turn to the esteemed Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism (emphasis mine): [Fiasco] That one word assessment of the Geithner plan,...

File this in your Here We Go Again Department file: A GOP group is putting Republican lawmakers “on notice,” threatening to campaign against anyone who breaks ranks to vote for the more than $800 billion economic recovery package. The National Republican Trust PAC put out a statement Tuesday claiming it would provide financial support for primary challengers to any stimulus-supporting Republican...

So what should the government do now to try and boost employment? In this Guest Voice, TMV reader Marc Pascal, an independent business and management consultant in Phoenix, offers some specific ideas which include reinstituting the draft. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TMV or its writers. Public Service and Replacing Lost Jobs: Two For One Solution by Marc Pascal The Labor Department...

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The following graph has been getting a lot of play on the web. It was put out by the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi: As you can see, it shows that in comparison to the two most recent recessions, we have lost a bunch of jobs. The graph has “focused the mind” of some bloggers like Andrew Sullivan: This graph sure does concentrate the mind and reveals, to my mind, the surrealism of the current GOP....

David at The Unreligious Right had some good comments on my “The GOP’s Pharmaceutical View of the Stimulus Plan.” I say good because, although David obviously disagrees with my views, he is very civil and perceptive in his arguments.This is quite refreshing these days when one sees so many personal attacks between people of differing political, and other, opinions. As you may recall, if you read...

In his first prime-time press conference, President Barack Obama said the United States is in “”winter of our hardship” and gave detailed and analytical answers to questions on the economy, Iran, the Bush administration, what he saw of the hardships of average Americans — and made it clear that he doesn’t believe bipartisanship means acquiescence. Obama jumped right into his main...

Having just watched the stimulus bill clear what is hopefully the last hurdle on its way to passage in the Senate tomorrow, I feel like the seriously ill patient who has just been prescribed a medicine that has a good chance of bringing him back to good health. And so it’s no surprise that I look upon the stimulus plan as a medicine prescribed by a physician to a very sick patient. The physician is the Obama...

The amended $800 billion stimulus bill is on the way to passage after a 61-36 vote in favor of cloture. We had all 57 Democrats voting Yes plus Sanders of Vermont (I),  3 GOP Senators voting Yes (Collins, Snowe and Specter), and 1 not voting (Gregg) plus one vacancy in Minnesota (party unknown) so that leaves 1 more non voting Republican, I’m not sure who they were. Thanks to George for reminding me...

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.