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The Four R's

The Reasonable Read Robert Reich.
The 3 P's
Too Reactions [!~?]

The Nightmare Act

I didn't plan this.

The Challenge to America...and any independents or disappointed moderates or liberals who are considering sending a message* that will result in Republicans or Tea-Party candidates replacing a Democrat, because that is what will happen if you don't vote, and don't read the Pledge to America and ask, what's new. (Fwhew, deep breath)-
Really now, I don't want to read it all by my lonesome, but I will give everyone a head start. And when you are reading it, ask what is new, has it worked in the past, is it not at least part of the current solution, and do we really need more in that direction or another. This questioning of the dynamics is hard work. Keeping in mind that tax cuts raise debt unless cuts match them. Spending cuts, cut services and risk jobs and infrastructure. Keep in mind that in more successful times in our history we had higher taxes and paid for wars, while cutting taxes and not paying for them have increased the debt and lost jobs. Then there is the war on terror and global concerns such as they are... Is the Pledge to American really new, or are they just wanting their hands back on the steering wheel to turn us back over the bridges they burned? You read, you decide.

[Related comments, reviews and concerns or other sources]

Off The Charts?

[also Updates under construction after Stockmann below]

Update see [**] there.

[Image 2]

See tax policy here.

[Image 3]

In Con Text:
'Nuf Said?*

*nfry
[Ribble added.]*?
Stockmann

I'm not even

gonna read this yet, or MoveOn to this. But is this the deal?
[Scroll over links for 'nuf context]
It seems a spectrum of progress and contrast. From Bush, to Blair, from Tea Parties, to Newt. Each looks better in perspective to the others.
[9-15-10 Re: further preemption]
[Counter Balance[*] of Table]
[Just noting the complexities of international diplomacy and domestic politics, as well as the "two party" system. While we near a deal of major import, minor fears drive local divisions, and have major costs. Democrats run divided, while Republicans divide to run. While this is not a clear and fair analogy, as of course division is needed in races within parties. But Democrats have not created a party to run against itself, while it has those in office who run rather* independent.]
[And Under the Radar]
* see Balance above and cost of debt and war

[Image use and source; original.]

[*][On the other hand, extending only the middle-class Bush tax-cuts only reduces the borrowing by $700 billion.]
[9-16-10: extending the Bush Tax cuts: adds $3.9 trillion** to National Debt, while extending only those above $250K would add only $3.22 trillion. i.e. reduce by $680 billion. ]
** 3.8? Quote: Extending them for the next 10 years would add about $3.8 trillion to a growing national debt that is already the largest since World War II. About $700 billion of that reflects the projected costs of tax cuts for those in the top 2 percent of income-earners.

Bane(Or) Change

[11-17-11 Update Labels]
I guess my chant was heard. But it is not substantial.

There are still three ways of looking at it.
Boehner Change(noun) = debt up, government down
Boehner Change(verb) = nuanced no
Bane or Change(choice) = Reverse or Drive
Might he be bending to the mighty Dem mo'.

Then there is the False flag of divisiveness or moderation?
A pre-curse-or-Y look at narrative? Gingrich supports colonialism**, and in conjunction with Blair, confirms the narrative, the U.S. is more than* patronizing or condescending to the world. I prefer the practical, incremental and political nuances. I feel that there is a major difference in the diplomacy and strategy in the Middle East, compared to the Bush Rumsfeld Cheney unified blame 1% solution.

*[bold irony] It is difficult to balance our national security with national politics in the aim of international justice, let alone diplomacy. Congress in the name of the people must play an important part in the checks and balances as well as the separation of powers. It is a lot easier to say make it so, or make it no, than to make progress. [Segue in time.]

** emphasis "precursory" yet that is the Blair which
projection in the academic twilight*** zone.
*** Gingrich and D'Souza are scary academics
[Speaking of academic lore and narrative not to mention bait and switch.]

Failure of Modesty...

works on so many levels
except the Right[*].

[(cont.) 8-16-10 Needless explanation?
It is the modesty of the administration which has failed us, and the immodesty of the Republicans or Market Capitalists that brought collapse.]

[*True: "You don’t want government to try to restore confidence." Yet the problem was in the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the following three rules makes sense:

1. Low debt
2. Eliminate derivatives, complex derivatives, keep the products that don’t require formulas...
3. Eliminate moral hazards...make sure they have no externalities

It would seem that this argues for a less modest role for society as "venture capitalists." And the hazard is not planning to change enough.]
[Note: low debt is no more linked to low taxes than GDP is to values. The formulas for derivatives are the problem not the formulas for economics.]

On the wall verses on the table.

My punctuation and spelling are as intented,
versus not exactly clear.

From a discussion[*] on the Wiemar Republic and the issue of gun control springs the economic impact in the Treaty of Versailles*, the word Realpolitik, crept into my search which landed me on Noopolitik which brought me this source on a letter and this reference to Fred Kaplan. (My earlier comment on similar material including Fred Kaplan.)
[To be update as well as linked to economics--not to mention boat and recent links:
Humpty Dumpty
"Trust but verify"
Atlas
American Exceptionalism!]

* no pun on vs or vs., nor reliance on this article per se.
[bold links for referenced revisiting and no slouches embedded there]
[A Plan to B-Team: upgraded in progress]
[especially naught / exactly]

[*] this is not necessarily the discussion but the source was the Thom Hartmann show last week to which I had my own contribution via the ethernet, I might per se.

Humpty Dumpty

and The Great Wall? *
Do we have the right gatekeepers?

* Pre-post-or-us?

"I'm king of the world!"

Speaking of being in the same boat * and cheesiest lines.

Gordon Brown floats a line: The G20 conference is no Bretton Woods but the kind of inflation we need is from the G2 to the G20 and the kind of deflation is from our leaders to chairs at the tables.

And the only thing more important than the four pillars of Obamanomics ** is holding the world together before it sinks together.

[The world is not the Titanic nor just a movie, but that does not mean there is not a tip of an iceberg.]
[More heads up at another table.]
[Just in case you wonder about the top line, the bottomline is "we the people"]

* "We the People" to "King of the World": "YOU'RE FIRED!" ...a letter from Michael Moore

** A Plea to Congress
Obamanomics:
We are all in this together.
Focus on the comprehensive if hard to comprehend interrelatedness of Education, Energy, Healthcare and World Finance.
Not to mention the cost of peace.

[4-14-09: The Boat added here and there]

Hold your head up Paul Krugman!

Reform Is Needed. Reform Is in the Air. We Can't Afford to Fail.Truthout.org by: Joseph Stiglitz | Visit article original @ The Guardian UK

Geithner's Plan Will Tax Main Street to Make Wall Street Richer by Dean Baker Truthout.org or Huffington Post

Paul Krugman rounds out or triangles out the table. I will only make one comment in that the bottom line is the people, and since the trickle down has caused an economic bubble if not civilization to go up in smoke and mirrors, that the burden is there on that bottom line, while the money is in the clouds. OK, now I'm rolling. But seriously, I am not sure if we are caught between salting the clouds and salting a mine, but Humpty Dumpty * needs help. Are these the Three Musketeers?
[*] Pre-Post-or-us? links embedded: A Plea to Congress ! Between the charges ? "Off a Cliff" And do we have d'Artagnan on The Fence?

Hang down your head Paul Krugman!

On Meet the Press Jonathan Mann is the bright spot and I do not mean to dis Paul Krugman but the idea that they were talking about owning the economy is my point.
Obama will not own the economy unless...
Oh, heck I fell in the trap.
But hang down your heads, Will and Dowd.

But the time horizon is a factor. It took almost 8 years for the economy to be the issue. It has been over 25 that Reaganomics has been the problem, not to mention, over twice that since FDR and Charlie McCarthyism *have been in the background.
(OH and I will not link Charlie Wilson and another Joe)
BUT THEY ARE THE SHADOWS!
Will is proctor hoc post [*] or we have the Charlie/Joe fallacy.

Re:links Owning the Shadows
and more?
* Socionomics of hope? And the vicious cycle.

[The reference in the title goes no deeper than the reference to a song.(period) (note)...(not) that it is a song of the century but it may be about our economic and cultural heritage...] [or the potential of a carbon based world in a dollar debased economy or justice period.]
[How can you not smile **and be curious Mann?

** Thanks to Jon Stewart and Yes We Can!

[the bottom line? the Greenspan put may need a flip-flop to the Krugman take or is it really about our take>]
[And I thought that would be the last spin but who needs a hair cut and who will*** be the barber?]

*** need segment link to bailout discussion

[*] 8-13-09 link adjusted to correct spelling but still a missing Charly

Not our Grandfather's Oldsmobile

Or War or GM.
Or rather the latter may be but not still spinning.

(Over the weekend I came up with a new tetrahedron. In the balance of forces and freedoms comes fears and fantasies. This is not our grandfather's 4F, nor just a reaction to the 4A of fundamentalists.)
(And I am not saying for critics to "Shut Up"*, but this is a war. After 8 years of mismanagement and "the shadows" I don't think we have to worry about a power grab. In fact, I think that the American people deserve a power grab.)

* Re: first link is Air America Media link and includes Bill Sammon comment clip

[Update retro-added: By all accounts - Irony versus Hypocrisy - Oh heck! ]

Pre-post-or-us?

Humpty Dumpty was an Egg
The Economy was a bubble.

Now the economy is a wall,
and we all must take the fall.

For the wall * and/or the omelet
is a little egg on our face.

William Greider will be the guest of Bill Moyers regarding Humpty Dumpty. [**]

* the preposterous nature is the point that I had flip-flopped the allegory (from egg to wall) (Inflation/deflation seem unavoidable realities without real change and a little egg on the wall.)
[Update 3-31-09: bottom link changed to include extra post]

[** 6-22-09: I finally inserted the link to the Greider/Moyers piece @ Humpty Dumpty(above) and have yet to listen but the metaphor has been used here as well.]

A Plea to Congress

Please support the President and his economic leadership, in particular the comprehensive if not yet always comprehendible rescues and reforms.

The immediate fixes cannot be perfect nor the long term costs of delay neglected. The powers that are needed are not there yet and must be considered carefully but much of what is on the table was placed there by those who were part of the problem while that alone does not take them away from being part of the solution.

I urge the TARP oversight board and Finacial oversight committees to investigate all bailed out institutions and not only how they came to need rescue, but to make sure they do not get out from under their need to change. Any reimbursement of bailout funds must be complete, and there must be an understanding of how things will be different, before there is any back tracking or refunding.

I think that all political measures should be considered in supporting the four pillars of Obamanomics; Energy, Education and Healthcare reform and fiscal responsibility, as well as the international scope of financial and progressive reforms.

Please see the Humpty Dumpty allegory for the wall that needs to come down, between people and progress.

Sincerely,
Roger Larson

[Update 3-27-09 bold added to Obamanomics: it is a link to an article by the president and international scope has one too. The rest of the body of the text can be read with the links as footnotes.]

[Without getting too into the term "political capital" which the previous administration really had none to spend, it may be something that if you don't use, you lose. I do not see how doing what the people sent you there to do is a risk.]

AIG should reconsider name change.

It is ironic that AIG should attempt a name change. Now that AIG is owned by US, is that the U of the "new" AIU Holdings Ltd.? Hopefully it is not Unlimited but so far it is Underthetable.
[I will leap to the point that the good name of the United States is at stake in this name change and the potential for changing minds about corporate welfare being at stake. Attempts to return TARP funds must include funds that came from any other bailout efforts and not in the expectation that things will return to the old way of doing business. I think that is implicit but it is yet to be resolved how or made explicit.]

What does the U stand for and why should AIG change its name now that taxpayers own 80% of it? Did we get a voice in that? And what about all that advertising* which went for naught?

* update [Speaking of Leviathans and who is too big?]
[Also a new look at the cost of advertising and the media should be taken in respect to free speech and freedom of the press as opposed to prepaid or bought and sold, views and news.]

The Raw Story

Presidential Press Conference (II)

a look back at (I)

On the other hand:
A Time for Global Action
by Barack Obama TruthOut.org The Chicago Tribune

[update briefing link3-9-09]

HEAR HEAR!

The Audacity of Audacity by E.J.Dione Jr. The Washington Post

On the Road to Change: The Psychology of Progress by Roy Eidelson Cognitive Policy Works

I was going to make my usual preemptive comments after a glance at these, or headline this "for my coffee table" but read them instead. I have enough on my coffee table, or kitchen table, not to mention night stand. There is no relative weight to these tables but there is enough of an endorsement from the dark side.
(Both "enough" harken back to who is driving the GOP and who is good [see the bill] frum ofor what.)

Un-State of the Union

Joint Session of Congress Huffington Post
Preemptive Strike
CNN breakdown.
Unresponsive Reply:
MSNBC In the spirit of NO,
we send our hearts and spirit and must have seen it coming.

In all these areas, Republicans want to work with President Obama. We appreciate his message of hope, but sometimes it seems we look for hope in different places. Democratic leaders in Washington -- they place their hope in the federal government. We place our hope in you, the American people. In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government. We oppose the National Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and to create jobs.

Honestly? (my bold) I repeat, honestly? "In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government."
Yet we may have something to agree with here in my italics.
And never forget: "We are Americans" and corporations are not.(at least not a word in the Republican response.)

Speaking of Code.[2-26-09: Lakoff]
And Deeper.[2-26-09: Kerbel ]

To unweave the Rove of the nattering nabobs: It is not the Democratic policy to increase dependence on government, any more than to not restrain spending in Washington, or not empower individuals and small businesses.

And Deeper: [2-26-09: Brewer]
And Deeper
and back again.
Maybe someone has.

And a missed Forward* or Bottom Line a suggestion or Un-Cola

* This was not on my RADAR, I don't know about my SONAR, but it is short and sweet and acts as forward and summary if not update to the Conservative Foray. And may mix well with a shot of this allegory of freedom and fields or courts.

[2-26-09: Bold added where dated and just a note that these are highly recommended. While I have not fully read all links, I have now heard both the President's speech and the Republican reply.]

Reading (listening) between the lines.

For Howard Dean there is not much between the lines:
Getting something done "from the outside".

For President Obama there is much between the lines:
Getting attacks from "the Beltway press".
"a lot of criticism of it" (Stimulus Package)
"that could have been because of the name, because an effort, it's two thirds of it was actually spending."

Obama: What do you think a stimulus is?
"by necessity we are moving quickly"

Who owns the economy? It depends on if you are looking for responsibility or blame. Obama is looking at the responsibility of going forward without mistakes of the past, and "the Beltway press" is eager to pass the buck. Especially The Beltway Boys who are shooting clay pidgeons or is it cr...?(that game with dice)
[Hint "red herrings": Burris, Holder and the Fairness Doctrine. For me; no thumbs up or down, just side ways.]