Bernie Says "NO!" Krugman Counters, Obama Seeks Verboten Freeze in Domestic Spending To Placate Mathematically Challenged

You know that I have a lot of respect for Paul Krugman's judgment - even when I think he is wrong (and his full disclosure is almost fuller than I wished). Before reading his latest on the Bernanke reconfirmation, I would have been able to tell you exactly why it was a very bad idea. Surprisingly enough though, Paul does it for me, and then convinces me that he's probably right (purely on the grounds of self defense). Which I hate. Bernie Sanders actually makes a better case but can we afford the revenge? (Okay. I can. But can the country?) (Emphasis marks added - Ed.)

Joe Bageant is much more amenable to my way of thinking and his latest thoughts jibe much more closely with my own insights. He even gets to straighten out a "tea partyer" who is absolutely sure of his own judgment (which is uneducated, sure, but held by about 70% of the population).

About the Tea Party movement. Yeah, you're right. It is not what it started out to be. Personally, I believe it has been co-opted by ultra conservative GOP think tanks operating in the background. I've seen it happen before and I believe I am seeing it happen now. With no proof, mind you. However, when I smell fresh dog shit in the air, I assume the presence of a dog somewhere about. I am not alone in this. Many veteran journalists agree with me privately, but cannot say so publicly because they cannot prove it. They supposedly have journalistic standards and public responsibilities to which they adhere (they cannot prove that either). I, on the other hand, am moreover retired from journalism as a vocation, and have a big mouth. In the typical crankiness of aging Southerners given to drink, I have taken to calling things as I see them. Or smell them, as the case may be. And these days with the political climate reeking like a whorehouse after the fleet pulls out, the olfactory bulbs reign triumphant.

Please read the rest here (I guarantee you won't regret the moments you spend).

The Bernanke Conundrum (Paul Krugman) A Republican won in Massachusetts — and suddenly it’s not clear whether the Senate will confirm Ben Bernanke for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. That’s not as strange as it sounds: Washington has suddenly noticed public rage over economic policies that bailed out big banks but failed to create jobs. And Mr. Bernanke has become a symbol of those policies. Where do I stand? I deeply admire Mr. Bernanke, both as an economist and for his response to the financial crisis. (Full disclosure: before going to the Fed he headed Princeton’s economics department, and hired me for my current position there.) Yet his critics have a strong case. In the end, I favor his reappointment, but only because rejecting him could make the Fed’s policies worse, not better. How did we get to the point where that’s the most I can say? . . . That’s not a ringing endorsement, but it’s the best I can do. If Mr. Bernanke is reappointed, he and his colleagues need to realize that what they consider a policy success is actually a policy failure. We have avoided a second Great Depression, but we are facing mass unemployment — unemployment that will blight the lives of millions of Americans — for years to come. And it’s the Fed’s responsibility to do all it can to end that blight.

Please read the rest here as it's an eye opener.

J. Bradford DeLong says this is an economic disaster in the making. I agree. You decide. (Oh, and Obama is perfectly okay with being a one-term President? If only he'd campaigned on that plank.) Danny Schechter, who is always a treat to read, points out that Obama is Kowtowing as he Seeks 3-Year Freeze in Spending on Many Domestic Programs.

President Obama will call for a three-year freeze in spending on many domestic programs, and for increases no greater than inflation after that, an initiative intended to signal his seriousness about cutting the budget deficit, administration officials said Monday. The freeze would cover the agencies and programs for which Congress allocates specific budgets each year, including air traffic control, farm subsidies, education, nutrition and national parks. [More here →]

J. Bradford DeLong, Professor of Economics at U.C Berkeley: This Is Such a Disaster in the Making… Doesn’t anybody in the White House know how to play this game? First rule of politics: If you have campaigned against a proposal called a “freeze,” and denounced it in the most eloquent terms, don’t call your own proposal a “freeze.” Obama To Diane Sawyer: ‘I Would ‘Rather Be Really Good One-Term President’ Obama tells Diane Sawyer he doesn’t want to be a “mediocre two-term president.” ABC has posted the whole transcript here.

And I'm pretty sure that you don't want to know why Haiti has been responded to like its middle name is New Orleans.

LA Times: Haitian Elite Planning A New Capital/ New Haiti - This article of how members of the elite there began planning to rebuild within an HOUR after the quake hit is seen by the person who sent it to me as evidence that they a) were not all that eager to provide aid immediately and b) saw it as an opportunity to move the poor out of the new capital they hope to build. Businessmen who have been part of creating low-wage factories in partnership with US firms were part of the group. “You would think their first concern would be saving the people.” she said. “Is this too conspiratorial? Perhaps. But there must be reasons for the delay in aid for the masses there beyond the logistical “bottlenecks” we are being told about since many procedures have now changed suggesting there was only the barest of plans and knowledge of what to do among the US military who everyone assumed knew what they are doing. CNN reports (that a)id is beginning to seep through and reach more people but this is now two weeks after the disaster struck. There are still major shortages of materials and personnel.

No wonder TV news prefers focusing on the more feel-good news, the uplifting stories about orphans coming to America.

That's certainly my choice. Just don't let any of those damned legless Haitians in legally. Suzan __________________