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Phillip Swagel’s “The Financial Crisis: An Inside View“. It is a meaty 50+ page document but it is full of great lines such as the following: A lesson for academics is that any time the word “force” is used as a verb (“the policy should be to force banks to do X or Y”), the next sentence [...] By ROB LONGLos Angeles To those of us who live and work in Hollywood, movies are always the perfect gift. So we’re puzzled to read about the controversy that erupted when President Barack Obama gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a collection of classic movie DVDs. It seemed like a chintzy gift to some sniffing British journalists. Impersonal, slapdash, borderline insulting — the sign, some suggested, of a president in over his head. But, look, we’ve all been there. We’ve all been faced with finding a last-minute gift. We’ve all sprinted through the aisles of Walgreens, scanning the shelves for something — anything — that might possibly, if wrapped stylishly, qualify as a present. President Obama has the added burden of being almost completely broke, so it’s only natural that his eye drifts to the discount bin at the video store. Studying philosophy, students love to debate the idea that we are all just brains in a vat. Based on recent experience, I think we’re brains in a comedy routine. Exhibit A: There was Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, boldly testifying Tuesday before Rep. Charlie Rangel’s Ways & Means Committee – promising that the Obama administration intends to propose [...] With flourish of Obama’s pen, over 269,000 jobs will be “saved/created” in Texas alone over the next [...] In 2003, amid debate about the Bush tax cuts and a budget deficit of merely $400 billion, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe demanded that any tax cuts be capped at $350 billion. “At a time of growing federal deficits,” the Republican declared to much media praise, “it is especially important that this plan be right-sized without putting our future at risk.” ![[Review & Outlook]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-DC906_oj_1st_E_20090211222106.jpg) AP
Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Max Baucus, Harry Reid and Arlen Specter. Flash forward to Tuesday: Ms. Snowe provided one of three crucial GOP votes that helped Democrats pass $838 billion in new spending and “tax cuts” — often for people who pay no taxes. The deficit for 2009 even before this stimulus? $1.2 trillion. Now we all realized why Democrats are so quick to raise taxes! They don’t pay them! Amazing. And the hits keep coming…and coming… HopeAndChange! Between the inability to find nominees who can file taxes, Blago in Chicago, Obama appointing people under serious investigation for corruption, Hillary’s senate replacement (Kennedy was Obama’s pick), the bungling of Gen. Zinni, discovering that his [...] • Bluto: “Over? Did you say ‘over’? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!” Otter: “Germans?” Boon: “Forget it, he’s rolling.”–dialogue from “Animal House,” 1978 Wow. I know that politics breeds strange bedfellows but still: WHAT HAPPENS IN HOUSTON…: Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff designate for Obama; Mark McKinnon, former Bush ad man and McCain strategist; David Axelrod, presidential adviser-designate for Obama; Bill McInturf, Republican pollster; Matthew Dowd, former Bush strategist. This motley crew, all with major roles in recent political contests, [...] TV is amazing. I never knew he was [...] |
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