This HAS to be the primary reason Obama changed his mind….

Trying to prop up a droopy economy is a relatively vague and mysterious art, where results can be interpreted and measured by the organic response of the market to stimulus. However, fixing the unsettling problem of Social Security and Medicare paying out more than they take in (a situation that looms closer than previously estimated) will be not so vague and mysterious. And something tells me the solution won’t be wildly popular.

The health insurance industry’s offer to come to the table with 2 trillion in health care cost savings sounds perfectly honorable, except I worry about exactly how they plan to do it. By doubling up on their coverage denials? further rationing? jacking up premiums, co-pays and deductibles? Again?
It’s hard not to be exceptionally cynical. As Paul Krugman said yesterday of health insurance companies: “Remember that what the rest of us call health care costs, they call income.”

Orrin Hatch summed up the GOP’s thoughtful and principled position on Supreme Court nominees this week with his response to Obama’s use of the term “empathy” when describing a quality he would look for in a high court justice. Hatch scurried dutifully to the dog-eared old GOP judge code manual, which translates anything that comes from the mouth of non strict right-wing ideologues as “activist.” The Republicans are pulling their hair out over Obama’s nominee, threatening to block any nominee at committee level – Even they don’t have a clue who it is yet. And to think, not long ago the GOP tried to pass a bill to prevent filibustering court nominees.

I understand why the President demanded that $17 billion be lopped off the top of the Federal budget. To most of us that sounds like a lot, but when that budget is $3 . something trillion, it does look a bit window dressing-y. Obama has opened the federal floodgates to try to alleviate massive recessionary economic pressures, which (in theory at least) should eventually result in more tax revenue to beat down the deficit. So why would he be sweating fiscal restraint now? Is he naive enough to believe he can appease the utterly unappease-able, like people who stand around waving bags of Lipton?

The vanquished Afghanistan-based Taliban was inexplicably left for years to fester and prosper in the mountains to the west of Pakistan, while we upped and left to focus on Iraq. Now the Taliban have a powerful foothold in Pakistan, and Taliban rebel forces are 60 miles from Islamabad. And the US is (rightly) panicking. Many people have been warning of this exact scenario for years, but were largely ignored.

Albany cobbled together a cock-a-mamie political quick fix for the MTA’s budgetary trainwreck (har, har) which means they punted on the hard decisions, which will all have to wait until the fall. Because by the fall there will be rainbows and hearts and unicorns and all will be well with the budget, and all the hard decisions will have magically evaporated!!

US tax code is weird. It’s byzantine structure puts the onus on the taxpayer to figure out the absolute minimum they owe to the Government. I’ve always thought it was especially thrilling that at the extreme end of that structure we allow corporations and super-wealthy individuals to shelter their money in overseas havens, so they – brilliantly – don’t have to pay any US taxes on it at all! Not like us government-funding, land-lubbing suckers, stranded on taxpaying terra firma, who have our inconsiderable wealth tied up with the friendly neighborhood TARP recipient, and in full view of the local IRS agent. The administration’s proposal to shrink the tax-haven loophole would be a step toward fiscal parity and would help close the deficit. Therefore, It will never make it through the bank-owned congress. Great opportunity for a human head/island cartoon though, don’t you think?

All gleeful chatter of the GOP being out of power for a generation is absurd. They will be back. One day.

I don’t see how Chrysler can survive a prolonged bankruptcy process. It is such a complex business structure, encumbered by massive overhead, debt and legacy pension/healthcare costs and the only thing that will save the company in the long term is simply the production of cars that people will buy (once they can get their hands on some credit…)
From an emotional standpoint, I really want to see Chrysler succeed…My first car was a Chrysler product. I’d love for them to make something that I actually want to drive again (though anyone who knows me understands that’s a pretty tall order…)