First, thanks to Calculated Risk, here’s what this look like when put into historical context… Whenever I see a graph like that it makes me cringe, but what goes up must come down eventually. Now, the details… The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 4 was 6,022,000, an increase [...]

“Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.” – Texas Governor Rick Perry hinting at secession at a Tea Party rally today And here’s the audio… First off, he’s wrong. Texas never [...]

It’s happening a lot more now that other loans besides the subprimes are coming due. From North County Times: Ward Hanigan, a San Diego investor who purchases foreclosures, agreed that the longer foreclosure procedures produce artificially low inventory numbers, with no recovery in sight for the region’s housing market. “It’s like an oil pipeline; it [...]

Picked this up from Doug’s site and it’s worth watching the whole thing. And so we have the inherent problem with every single argument coming out of the religious right wing opposing gay marriage…none of them can be defended by anything other than distorted facts or personal opinions. It was the same with the anti-miscegenation [...]

Since I covered the Tea Parties today, I figured I should also cover a protest that’s much more in the spirit of what the Boston Tea Party stood for. From NY Times: KABUL, Afghanistan — The young women stepped off the bus and moved toward the protest march just beginning on the other side of [...]

Regardless of what I might think of how they were started, promoted or whether or not they’ll last, it’s always a good thing when Americans peaceably unite to protest. Thankfully we’re lucky enough to have those rights and, as we all know, rights are best when exercised often and vigorously. Also, I understand the anger [...]

Economists, politicians, and pundits refer to “toxic assets” as if they are some unspeakable stew bubbling in a barrel behind an old warehouse. But “toxic assets” are actually mortgages and, by extension, houses and the people who live in them. Sandra Berrios is one of millions facing the prospect of ballooning loan payments forcing her [...]

So, on tax day, President Obama has pledged to make future April 15ths less stressful by simplifying the tax code: “It will take time to undo the damage of years of carve-outs and loopholes. But I want every American to know that we will rewrite the tax code so that it puts your interests over [...]

For those who’ve worried that under the command of President Obama, our military in Iraq won’t be able to adjust to realities on the ground, there’s this story out of Mosul. Conditions in the region are not good and our forces are likely postpone the scheduled withdrawal if Iraqi authorities ask us to stay. Army [...]

Andrew Sullivan highlights a reader’s recounting of Easter weekend with his far-right family. From Daily Dish… 1. Total insulation from MSM Everyone refuses to read the New York Times or Washington Post. Sunday morning while getting ready for Church I put on “Meet the Press” and my father looked on with disgust and changed the [...]

I’ve been growing increasingly frustrated with Fox News lately because it’s becoming nothing more than a noise machine. Yes, I know they were laughable in the past, but at least they made an effort to appear like they were a news organization. Now there is ZERO doubt that they’re simply a mouthpiece for right wing [...]

Usually you can read numbers a couple different ways, but not when the margins are this wide… And here’s how the party IDs break out… What does it say about the GOP when they can’t even get 2/3rds of their own party to trust them on the economy? To me, this points to one thing [...]

And of course Coleman will appeal, but it’s looking more and more likely that we’ll be calling the former SNLer Senator Franken in the very near future. From Star Tribune: After a trial spanning nearly three months, Norm Coleman’s attempt to reverse Al Franken’s lead in the recount of the U.S. Senate election was soundly [...]

w00t! My personal favorite political guru is getting his own digs. From The NY Observer: The new show on MSNBC, to debut in late spring, would give Mr. Todd more experience as a political moderator and provide him with a good opportunity to develop his long-form interviewing skills. At the same time, it would give [...]

Never one to miss an opportunity, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may run on the Republican ticket next mayoral election while still remaining a declared independent. Apparently, despite being an apostate to the national party, local borough GOP leaders are willing to let the still-popular mayor put his name on their line. If you’re keeping [...]

Between Wells Fargo and this news, doesn’t anybody think that this may put a slight damper on those Tea Parties on Wednesday? From MarketWatch: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Monday it swung to a profit in the first-quarter compared to the prior period, and announced it has commenced a public offering of $5 billion of [...]

A new article from Bloomberg spells out the possible scenarios we face. Obviously I side much more with the Keynes approach because of the reasons laid out here, but obviously inflation fears aren’t unfounded. Here’s more… Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is siding with John Maynard Keynes against Milton Friedman by flooding the financial [...]

That’s the word out today and it sounds fairly damning for Jackson because how would folks come to Blago and promise this if it wasn’t backed up by Jesse Jr.? From Chicago Sun Times: Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s camp was told last year that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) would raise up to $5 [...]

I was trying to find something today that had nothing to do with Easter, and yet felt strangely appropriate. This is what I came up with… You’re welcome.

Quite a nice surprise on this holiday weekend. From ABC: A senior US official tells me that President Barack Obama approved a recommendation by Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen to dispatch special forces to the US scene on Friday. These special forces were authorized to take action “in [...]