Miscellaneous

**The new Time Magazine (3/2/09) has "Best Actress" Kate Winslet on the cover. Shall we speculate a little? Why the putative Excellent Actress and not also the Actor? I'm sure they have their editorial preferences. Here's one theory: The reason there isn't an Actor is that they'd have to put You-Know-Who on the cover, again. Is it possible they couldn't bring themselves to do it?

**Stupid question of the week: Will the Illinois senatorial/office-peddling scandals ever end?

Most humbly, a prediction

First, check out today's headlines from CNS news--

Obama’s Stimulus Will Cause 'Lower Wages' for American Workers, Says Congressional Budget Office

Only 23 Percent of Stimulus Will be Spent This Fiscal Year, Congressional Budget Office Finds

Now, to me this bailout doesn't sound like very sound policy for relief that will be noticeable any time soon. It seems that the more effective help will more likely come from (a) last year's bailout distribution for financial institutions and (b) separate bills now being targeted at financers and troubled home owners. So, what, aside from the tax cuts, is the stimulus package for?

My guess: the ambiguity and corruption in that bill signed Tuesday during Mr. Obama's junket to Denver will cause much of the funding to be tied up in litigation and subject to criminal probes for a decade. (Hopefully) some of the folks who stand to gain the most and who voted for it will lose their offices as a result.

Here's a link to the Congressional Budget Office report: CBO analysis.

See?

I made a comment some time back about Marxist-style rhetoric. It is the view that words are little more than political manipulation. See Professor Bradley Schiller, writing in Opinion Journal:

"Mr. Obama's analogies to the Great Depression are not only historically inaccurate, they're also dangerous. Repeated warnings from the White House about a coming economic apocalypse aren't likely to raise consumer and investor expectations for the future. In fact, they have contributed to the continuing decline in consumer confidence that is restraining a spending pickup. Beyond that, fearmongering can trigger a political stampede to embrace a "recovery" package that delivers a lot less than it promises. A more cool-headed assessment of the economy's woes might produce better policies."

A Presidents' Day Thought

Historian Richard Norton Smith: Great presidents not only speak to us--they speak for us.

Shame and more shame.

Shame on these people--specifically, the president and the congress. The stimulus the country needs should address priorities, not all this senseless growth of government spending. Here are the clear priorities: provide relief in the housing mortgage sector--people genuinely need some intervention here; get the banks lending again--otherwise, what was the original TARP for?; provide people with quick cash through a fast tax rebate and/or substantial tax cuts. These actions would be LESS COSTLY and far more effective than this "generational theft," as several parties have called it. The nation will be limping from this ineffective indebtedness for many years. Actually, if all they did was to help with the problematic mortgages--which were encouraged by the government in the first place--the neediest and hardest-hit would benefit directly, and the economy would start itself in short order. I hate to call people fools, but this train is heading for the cliff.