Hello, Progressive Democrats, the economy is tanking. A Bloomberg poll shows that two-thirds of Americans think we are headed for a recession. Half think we are already in one.
This is the Democratic issue. The political problem with Iraq is that there is no good answer to that hellish mess. The problem with the economy has a Progressive Democratic answer. And it requires a ruthlessness on behalf the common good which is the aggressive attitude that voters are looking for. It's the same kind of ruthlessness voters are looking for on behalf of the environment.
But I only see Iraq in the blogs. This is wrong. This is a fast ball right down the middle, but unless we start swinging pretty soon, it's going to be a called strike.
Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Almost two-thirds of Americans say a recession is likely in the next year and a majority believes the economy is already faltering, according to a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times survey.
By 65 percent to 29 percent, Americans say they expect a recession, the poll found. Fifty-one percent say the economy is doing poorly, compared with 46 percent who say it is doing well, the gloomiest view since February 2003.
The dollar is on a long, steep slide, with the predictable result that money is flooding into tangible things -- gold, oil, commodities, equities -- or into foreign currencies. It will return in the form of higher inflation.
We are going back into recession with inflation. Once again, the Market apologists will tell us how unusual this is, that the two occur together, even though it has happened every time since the 1950s.
When Republicans talk about cutting taxes, what they mean is borrowing now and raising taxes on the future. Bush tax cuts did nothing but create a deficit. When they talk about a strong economy, they mean a strong financial sector. Middle class America is not strong.
The Housing Meltdown is the child of Wall Street "innovation." Force feeding money to shady mortgage peddlers created paper that was packaged up to look like it was worth something and sold upstream. The hedge funds and many mortgage brokers are outside even simple disclosure requirements.
Let's take a clue from Barney Frank. Markets don't work unless they are structured and regulated and everybody plays by rules everybody knows. Otherwise you get Enron, World Com, Bear Stearns and now the housing meltdown. (Here are some policy proposals)
Meanwhile oil is at an all-time high, over $90 a barrel. That will hit the gas pumps in a couple of months.
The Fed's habit of throwing cheap money at the financial sector in the event of any crisis has finally run aground. Low interest rates floated a housing bubble which kept the entire economy above water. Now its over. There is nothing else in the pipeline.
Main Street is already out ahead of the Democratic voices. Let's go.