End of week musings and meanderings from the pundits.
Paul Krugman:
But we can safely predict what he and other officials will say about where we are right now: that the economy is continuing to recover, albeit more slowly than they would like. Unfortunately, that’s not true: this isn’t a recovery, in any sense that matters. And policy makers should be doing everything they can to change that fact.
The small sliver of truth in claims of continuing recovery is the fact that G.D.P. is still rising: we’re not in a classic recession, in which everything goes down. But so what?
More discussion in bobswern's diary.
Mergers and acquisitions are good for the economy, right? Well, this from Reuters...
At best, the M&A revival -- fueled by rock-bottom interest rates, cheap stock valuations and big company warchests -- will help limit stock market losses as fund managers scramble to fill portfolios with shares of potential targets.
And the flip side is that the prospect of enhanced M&A activity could raise fears of more job losses and questions about whether dealmaking is driven by worries over future product demand, contributing to investor unease.
Eugene Robinson:
The majestic grounds of the Lincoln Memorial belong to all Americans -- even to egomaniacal talk-show hosts who profit handsomely from stoking fear, resentment and anger. So let me state clearly that Glenn Beck has every right to hold his absurdly titled "Restoring Honor" rally on Saturday.
Gene's a Pulitzer prize winner for a reason.
Otoh (my comment):
This isn’t intellectual conservatism, a la Bill Buckley, with a coherent world view and a philosophy that can be argued and defended. This is "enrich me, by getting and staying angry at them." For Beck, et al, it works for now, at least as cash cow. The politics of it are less successful (see Palin’s increasing unfavorables with other than Republicans and Beck’s loss of Proctor and Gamble after he called Obama a racist and described him as having "a deep-seated hatred for white people".)
Beck at times is too reminiscent for me of Huey Long and Father Coughlin, at least what those populist demagogues might look like if sponsored and made wealthy by a corporation the way Fox backs Beck.
Is the time and place of Beck's rally appropriate? Well, it isn’t designed to foster American unity. What about the message organizers aim to deliver? I doubt that message is support of Martin Luther King’s dream.
WaPo:
In New Orleans The massive government effort to repair the damage from Hurricane Katrina is fostering a stark divide as the state governments in Louisiana and Mississippi structured the rebuilding programs in ways that often offered the most help to the most affluent residents.
Let the states do it! Give Republican Governors access to money and pretend to be shocked by what they do with it. C'mon, Bobby. Build those sandcastles berms.
From seattlepi.com:
Is income property? No, so income tax is OK, attorney says
The legal debate over a possible income tax in Washington boils down to whether income is property, like a house.
No taxes! No services! Let 'em eat cake!
MSNBC/First Read:
The Senate race is Connecticut has essentially turned into a contest between Richard Blumenthal's (D) mischaracterization of his military service and Linda McMahon's (R) stewardship of World Wrestling Entertainment.
And for McMahon, there's this tough headline in the New London (CT) Day: "Dead wrestler's father blasts McMahon, WWE"
Blumenthal misspoke and corrected himself in the same speech, McMahon turned the other cheek while her employees were maimed, died, or otherwise suffered. Because, y'know, these are equivalent gaffes.