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Nationalization Gets a New, Serious Look

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By David E. Sanger - Jan. 26 (News Analysis) - “Well, whatever you want to call it,” said Ms. Pelosi, Democrat of California. “If we are strengthening them, then the American people should get some of the upside of that strengthening. Some people call that nationalization. “I’m not talking about total ownership,” she quickly cautioned — stopping herself by posing a question: “Would we have ever thought we would see the day when we’d be using that terminology? ‘Nationalization of the banks?’ ” So far, President Obama’s top aides have steered clear of the word entirely....

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Bush's Faith-Based Gravy Train

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Consortium News - By Howard Bess - Jan. 26 (Opinion) - . By regulation, the Bush administration has removed requirements for professional qualifications for employees who act as therapists and counselors. Restrictions against discrimination in hiring have been removed. Jews, Muslims and gay persons are victims of harsh hiring discrimination. Many faith-based grant recipients are openly using religious conversion as a tool of therapy.

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A Smarter Stimulus

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New Yorker - By James Surowiecki - Jan. 26 (Opinion) - Cutting taxes is usually a surefire political winner. Yet Barack Obama’s plan to include more than a hundred billion dollars in individual tax rebates in his stimulus package has earned him criticism from both ends of the political spectrum. Critics in his own party think the rebate, which Obama wants to distribute by reducing people’s withholding payments, will be too small to make a difference—the equivalent of an extra forty dollars or so a month. Naysayers from the right maintain that, because the tax rebate is a onetime event rather than a permanent reduction in tax rates, it will have only a negligible effect. Skeptics on both sides worry that most people will save the rebate rather than spend it.

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Why The Stimulus Plan Isn't

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Moderate Voice - By Mikkel Fishman - Jan. 26 (Comment) - I have such conflicting thoughts on the stimulus plan I have no idea how to characterize them. The Republicans are so right, and completely wrong. The Democrats are feckless as usual. President Obama comes out by far the best, but is being disingenuous in his marketing and is thus open to very valid criticisms. I really hope he changes his pitch or otherwise a very good program may be derailed (or at least judged a failure) because it doesn’t meet its aims.

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Ten Reasons Why the "Economic Stimulus" Should Not Include Education Spending

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Heritage Foundation - Jan. 26 (Special Report) - House Democrats recently unveiled draft legisla tion for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[1] Widely touted as an economic stimulus package, the $825 billion draft legislation included as much as $142 billion for education.[2] This includes the creation of a $79 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund to assist state governments in providing public educa tion and other services. The act also includes signifi cant spending increases for current and proposed federal programs for K-12, postsecondary, and early childhood education. This approach is bad economic policy and bad education policy. An unprecedented federal spending increase for education will not improve economic growth--and past experience strongly suggests that this plan will not improve American educational per formance. Instead of a massive federal spending increase, Congress should embrace fiscally responsi ble solutions to help states meet fiscal challenges and improve educational services.

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Obama's Showdown Over Nuclear Weapons

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Time - By Mark Thompson - Jan. 26 (Special Report) - The latest U.S. nuclear showdown doesn't involve a foreign enemy. Instead it pits President Barack Obama against his Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, and concerns the question of whether America needs a new generation of nuclear warheads.

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David Korten: "Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth"

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By David Korten, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzales - Jan. 26 (Interview) - In his new book, Korten argues that the nation faces a monumental economic challenge that goes far beyond anything being discussed in Congress. He writes that now is an opportune moment to move forward an agenda to replace the failed money-serving institutions of our present economy with the institutions of a new economy dedicated to serving life.

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Bad Faith Economics

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Jan. 26 (Opinion) - As the debate over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan’s opponents aren’t arguing in good faith. Conservatives really, really don’t want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don’t want to see government activism vindicated. So they are reaching for any stick they can find with which to beat proposals for increased government spending.

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Advice to Pres. Obama (#5): One Engineer's Advice for Energy Policy

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Oil Drum - Jan. 26 (Opinion) - For much too long, US energy legislation (I hesitate to call it policy, because it lacks the coherence to justify the label) has been aimed at short-term patches on problems which have only gotten worse. CAFE regulations have barely held fuel economy steady, while low fuel prices caused consumption to skyrocket. "Free trade" allowed cheap oil imports to kill movement toward efficiency and substitutes. The auto industry lobbied against fuel taxes to promote its short-term interest in selling profitable trucks, with the long-term result that all 3 US automakers will go bankrupt in the next year if nothing is done. We've had change before, but the results put us where we are now. It's time for the right change.

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Getting There from Here: How should Obama reform health care?