For all the talk, the reality is that there is still a lot of work to do at home.  

This piece in Reuters, showing once again that the media gives too much power to people in focus groups, suggests that economists prefer a John McCain White House to a Barack Obama one.

The economy is a big issue. It has overtaken the war in Iraq as the most talked about thing by late night stand-up comedians and idiotic cable news anchors. But there are a few points I want to make sure everyone's clear on.

McCain apparently isn't as tech ignorant as we think.  Like most Republicans, he appears to be getting all his news from chain emails, because he's parroting the latest talking point that's been propagating down the pipe that brought previous bits of GOP misdirection.  

Earlier, campaigning in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., McCain credited the recent $10-a-barrel drop in the price of oil to President Bush's lifting of a presidential ban on offshore drilling, an action he has been advocating in his presidential campaign.

See, we didn't even have to drill to lower the price of oil, we only had to talk about it.  Which has to make you wonder why Bush didn't bother to remove the executive ban until after Republicans had decided to make oil the focus of their campaign.  (Oh yeah, and how is it that Democrats kept oil companies from saving us when Bush left the executive ban in effect until now?)

What's the real reason oil prices are falling?

"The worries about demand erosion in the U.S. and an economic slowdown are really pulling prices down," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consulting firm Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore.

The Energy Department's report also showed that U.S. gasoline stockpiles jumped 2.9 million barrels last week, far more than analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts predicted. The decline in crude inventories was less than forecast.

So congratulations to McCain, Bush, and the Republicans!  They've reduced oil prices by wrecking the economy to the point where demand is falling.  I guess that's one way to satisfy the supply/demand equation.

Don't worry, none of this will make the email.

Now that Obama has gone on a tour of Iraq, Afghanistan, Irael and several other countries and established some more foreign policy credentials, it's time to come back home and talk about what Americans care most about right now:

THE ECONOMY.

 In the spirit of Bush's declaration that "Wall Street Got Drunk", I'm going to keep this diary short and simple.

Our brave and fearless FDIC Chairperson, Shelia Bair, has tracked down the source of the troubles in the banking system...YOU!

My Dad, an extremely wise man, who went from being a ditch digger out of high school to becoming a successful small businessman, has a favorite phrase, "Do Something!" Throughout my life, from the football fields and wrestling mats of my youth to the classrooms and stumps of the present, I have heard the exhortation, "Do Something!" I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Everyday, while talking to people, either at their doors or at a local fair, I hear the same story. People are worried, frustrated, and angry about gas prices, the economy, the Iraq War, and health insurance. Gas, food, and health-care costs are going through the roof, people (rightly) are cutting back, people are losing homes due to foreclosure, job layoffs are just beginning to be announced, and winter is just over the horizon...Congress, meanwhile, does nothing.

Litho published an absolutely tragic diary this morning that has me reeling.

My neighbor and I have bantered about politics for the six years I have known him. We've been on good terms; the arguments get contentious and I'm a real hothead, but he is pretty unshakable and that seems to balance out. Lately my head has been hotter than usual because the things he keeps repeating are straight off of Rush Limbaugh's transcript, but my neighbor keeps telling me he doesn't admrie Limbaugh all that much.

But when we talk about the mortgage crisis, it's now just gone sour. I walked away for the first time, and I was still talking to myself and shaking with anger even when I got back to the house.

if you have a morbid sense of curiosity of what Clear Channel and Fox can do to an otherwise normal guy, read the rest of this. If you've just had a meal, perhaps you can come back later after it's settled.

This Bud isn't for you.

I understand that the board of directors of a corporation is only responsible to it shareholders but it seems to me that there must be more.  Anheuser-Busch was recently sold to InBev, a Germany company for a gazillon dollars ($52 billion).  The stockholders, including Cindy McCain, are doing a victory dance.  Everyone is happy.  InBev gets to decrease competition.  Upper management and stockholders of Anheuser-Busch get to cash in.  Yahoo!  Everybody dance.  

It seems there are some folks that aren’t dancing, again.  American Workers.  The employees of Anheuser-Busch aren’t dancing.  InBev is going to cut costs - their specialty.  Cutting cost is business speak for firing workers and making the workers who stay work harder for less money.  This is a very common scenario.  We, Americans, should be use to this by now.  We have seen companies buyout other companies and then institute "cost" savings.  Wall Street loves this.  The stock usually will skyrocket and folks with money will make more money.  

Today, the national minimum wage increases by 70 cents, from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour.  I am proud to say that this is the second of three increases due to take effect under the Fair Minimum Wage Act, enacted by this Democratic Congress and signed into law on May 25, 2007.

The increase in the minimum wage comes at an important time for the millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. Real incomes have dropped since 2001, while the costs of gasoline, health insurance, and attending college have skyrocketed. With today’s increase, Americans who most urgently need a pay raise will get a badly needed boost.

Spending $1 Billion to Restore Fiscal Sanity

by John Harwood

"Peter G. Peterson wants people to focus on what he considers real news: the nation is going broke. Because he wasn't born yesterday, Mr. Peterson, co-founders of the Blackstone Group and a secretary of commerce under President Richard M. Nixon, will spend $1 billion in an effort to get the public's attention. The money, which comes from the windfall Mr. Peterson received when Blackstone went public last year, will finance a media blitz, starting with a documentary, "I.O.U.S.A.". The film aims to startle voters and politicians alike, and summon them to the task of closing the long-term imbalance between what the government".

George W. Bush whoops it up at a "R": fundraiser, laughing and joking while
Americans suffer in silence. This time, Cenk Uygur,(The Young Turks)is very angry at the Bozo-In-Chief... Watch video and feel his rage, and his sorrow. thinkingblue
See It Here thinkingblue.blogspot.com

^{Cross posted on
The Economic Populist -
A Community Site for Economics Freaks and Geeks}

Failure in war can be a bad thing.  Failure in business can be a personal loss, and in some instances a detriment to the economy.  With the recent calamity hitting the two largest mortgage lenders, not to mention other large American business concerns, it seems to a select few that failure is indeed a viable and good option.

A gamble with very high stakes is being openly promoted by adherents to a free-market orthodoxy.  These individuals, gaming on anger and the perceived loss of utility of these given enterprises, are pushing the public onto this wager.

From a story talking about the new housing bill:

From the WSJ:

The package could also come at a significant cost to the U.S. government, which would be authorized to invest billions of dollars in troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as insure up to $300 billion in refinanced mortgages. As a result of the bill, Congress will raise the national debt ceiling to $10.6 trillion from $9.8 trillion. It will also give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a new, tougher regulator.

As John McCain himself has said, the Republican Party has been acting like a drunken sailor. Recently, President Bush joked about it.  It is obvious from their callous disregard of the damage done by their binge drinking, that both of these men are still in denial.  Their unquenchable thirst for oil profits have left them with greedy hearts and unrepentant souls.  While they laugh about the housing market, millions of families face foreclosure.  They came into office with a robust and healthy middle class and they have feasted on these trusting citizens.  As a result, their friends have become mega rich and the middle class has disappeared into the ranks of the homeless.  The latest video shows us that the Republicans are still in denial about the damage done by their gluttony.  They still resist any efforts to regulate or control their appetites for wealth and power.  They need the 12 steps.  They need an intervention.

Clark: Well, they didn't bring more troops out to Anbar. What they did is the Saudis, basically in 2005, gave up on the U.S. policy, and they started working directly with the tribes. I went through the region in 2004 and 2005. I went through each of the Gulf States. I talked to the leaders and they said, 'You Americans are crazy. You're ignoring the tribes.' The Saudis put money behind it. They worked the tribes, and that helped bring the condition which made the Sunni Awakening possible.

Scarborough: So, so General, you are crediting the Saudis with success in Western Iraq. You're crediting Iran with success in Eastern Iraq. I think that's giving short shrift for what the troops did.

Clark: No, I don't think so. I think the troops are a very, very important part of this, but I think you have to look at whole situation in there, Joe.

Source: http://securingamerica.com/...
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This incredible article by Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone exposes what's really happened to the economy: the fallout of Republicanomics, of robbing the poor to feed the rich and their military-expansionist fantasies.

It started with a stark description of individuals' lives as described by Middle Class Vermonters to their Senator Bernie Sanders who asked his constituents how the economic "downturn" was affecting them. Expecting a few letters, he was swamped with over 700, telling of such harrowing experiences as burning furniture to stay warm and property taxes (thanks to RepubliBush Federal Tax Cuts to the Rich) are eating into their food money, not to mention education. Health care and dental care, of course, already are out of question. Welcome to Third World America.

There are some ugly details written into the housing bailout that will cause pause to even desperate homeowners.

As we discussed launching a Netroots platform in the run-up to Netroots Nation, the consistent theme in people's comments was, "I can't make it to Austin, how do I get my ideas into the platform?!?!?"

The concept, initially proposed by Jerome Armstrong, was to open the site to the world after kicking it off with a pair of Netroots Nation workshops.

That means now anyone can help create the Netroots platform - including YOU!

Just go here:

www.netrootsplatform.org

Read on for the details...