We freed up close to a trillion dollars for banks who employ mostly white collar workers, but we were unwilling to free up $25 billion for the blue collar autoworkers. Joe Scarborough and company discuss… I do think it’s shameful that the unions have gotten lambasted in the past few weeks as anti-capitalist boogeymen, but [...]

It’s hard to lose an election that isn’t even an election, but it sure does seem like the New York Senate seat is slipping from Caroline Kennedy’s reach. Her non-campaign campaign has mostly been a series of missteps, and it seems to be alienating the Democratic rank and file. I’m semi-shocked to see the amount of resistance Caroline’s receiving from [...]

I argued again and again and again that not opening Palin up to the press right off the bat was a horrible idea. Now, upon further reflection, it seems she agrees… The biggest mistake made was that I could have called more shots on this: the opportunities that were not seized to speak to more [...]

Nine out of ten people in a recent CNN poll say the economy is poor. I simply had to share this shocking news.

She tried to hold fundraisers to drive down the total, but after Bill’s post-presidency fundraising was revealed recently, I can understand why she put a stop to it and just ate the remaining. But that doesn’t mean she’s out of the woods yet… According to fillings with the Federal Election Commission, Mrs. Clinton forgave a [...]

The economy apparently doesn’t realize this is a season of giving. The latest data present us with two major Grinches. 1) the 0.5% GDP decline in the third quarter has been confirmed and some expect as much as a 6.0% GDP decline in the fourth quarter. 2) Median home prices have suffered the worst decline [...]

A recent study on how being overweight affects health showed a link between even modest weight gain and an increased risk for heart failure. The study, which tracked the health of over 21,000 male doctors, found that for every extra seven pounds gained, the risk of heart failure rose by 11 percent over the next [...]

At his new Culture11 digs, John Schwenkler points to a Washington Post article about the impending February 10 National Bankruptcy Day, about which I have written prolifically in recent days. One of the few saving graces with respect to this legislation, which will devastate small, medium and domestic businesses in numerous industries, has been a [...]

Do you know where your $700 billion is? Or at least the part that’s already been handed out to financial institutions? No? Well, according to a new AP report, we may never know. The AP contacted 21 banks that received bailout funds. Not a single one agreed to provide specific answers as to where the [...]

Unless we think U.S. automakers are alone in their troubles, Toyota announced today that it will see its first ever operational loss this year and has lowered net profit expectations to just $555 million. The company had initially projected a net profit of $13.9 billion. Toyota has been hurt by the financial crisis as well [...]

This time, Condoleezza Rice talks about her time as Secretary of State and Hillary’s future in that position. Now, let me just say this…if Rice thinks that US is “respected” and “popular” around the world, then she’s just as delusional as Bush and I’m glad to see her go. And comparing us to China and [...]

Above: Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30 MKI multi-role strike fighter As the luxury Taj and Trident hotels prepared to reopen for the first time since the November 26th terrorist attacks in Mumbai, The Times of India reported that India is “keeping the military option alive and kicking in face of Pakistan doublespeak on the crackdown [...]

First, the reason why… The more aggressive target, up from 2.5 million jobs set a month ago, comes after a four-hour meeting last week in which Obama’s top economic advisers told him the economy is now expected to lose as many as 3.5 million jobs over the next year. Obama was told that could drive [...]

Now, this is actually a pretty interesting strategy by the the Obama team. Have Biden focus on the problems of the largest group in this country while Obama tries to save everybody. From AP: Vice President-elect Joe Biden will oversee an Obama administration effort to find ways of building up the ranks of the middle [...]

The weekly radio address… The team sounds impressive, mostly because there are actual scientists in this group and not just a bunch of industry lobbyists. Steve Benen says it best… I realize that it’s a testament to Bush’s presidency that I get so excited about a new president talking about science is such a progressive [...]

George Will has a great column in today’s Washington Post on the significance of President Bush’s decision to go over Congress’s head and give taxpayer dollars to General Motors and Chrysler: Congress’s marginalization was brutally underscored when, after lawmakers did not authorize $14 billion for General Motors and Chrysler, the executive branch said, in effect: [...]

As most of you know, I haven’t been posting the past couple days. Between work, outside projects and holiday distractions, I’ve been completely slammed. However, the other voices on this blog have taken center stage and I think they’re doing a great job. I hope you do too. I’ll be back to posting on a [...]

Caroline Kennedy, seeking appointment to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, has a spotty voting record. From Boston.com: According to city Board of Elections records, she missed Democratic mayoral primaries in 1989, 1993, 1997, and 2005. She also missed the 2002 gubernatorial primary and general election, when Democrat H. Carl McCall lost to Republican incumbent George Pataki. [...]

In case you missed the Blagovernor’s presser today, check it out. Out went the Elvis impersonation and the whole black leather jacket-KGB look. Blago showed up in his most elegant dark suit with spiffy power tie, and quoting Kipling poetry (no less) declared that he’s gonna fight, fight, and then fight some more “to my [...]

As much as I would like to blame the crappy management of the US auto industry, you cannot ignore that Japanese auto makers get nice subsidies in research and development. Plus the govt. keeps the Yen artificially low to benefit their industry. Not to mention the health care and other tax breaks, it’s not necessarily [...]