Interest rates at 0%-0.25% are well below the inflation rate -- officially at 5%, in reality closer to 10%, before the deflationary shock hit.

This means that banks are giving money away, at least in theory.

Increasing the money supply through intangible means (electronic transfers of bonds, T-bills, etc.) seems to be having no effect on the economy -- banks still aren't lending. It's time for a "physical" fiscal policy: cranking up the printing presses.

It would seem logical that the only way to fight deflation is with inflation of the money supply, i.e., pallets of crisp new $100 bills.

Another much-needed improvement would be the elimination of the private Federal Reserve system in favor of a US National Bank. Why should the American taxpayer owe interest to private banks for all this economic stimulus when it could all be paid for with freshly printed paper money at virtually no cost to the taxpayers?

Fer christ's sake, remember that we're just clever hairless apes when we get down to the nub of it.

Look to the Bonobos!

The banking/financial crisis is just a symptom of a much more fundamental catastrophe for the US economy: the collapse of US manufacturing.

Manufacturing (including mining and agriculture) is the only means of creating wealth. Service economies, such as has evolved in America over the last generation, can only transfer wealth.

By gutting US manufacturing and purchasing manufactured goods from abroad, we are transferring American wealth and jobs to foreign countries.

As a result, America is literally bankrupt. Our debt now exceeds our income. And where are our captains of industry and masters of high finance? Investing in useless Ponzi schemes and easy-money scams like credit default swaps.

We must revise our tax code to encourage ventures -- as opposed to speculation -- and it is imperative that we revitalize American manufacturing.

Only a new National Manufacturing Policy, with tariffs to protect new American industry and tax credits to encourage the purchase of American-made products can reverse our current economic disaster.

Americans must consider every purchase of a foreign-made product when an American-made alternative is available to be an act of economic treason -- like every other country does.

As recent history has proved: Sometimes paranoiacs really do have conspiracies plotted against them.

America has suffered from the deviation from its historical meritocracy to its current hereditary aristocracy.

And like their peers throughout history, aristocrats resent being taxed -- taxes are for the "little people."

As our wiser ancestors realized, there's only one way to prevent the rise of a hereditary aristocracy in a free society: tax wealth.

There was a reason for those 90% tax rates on multi-million dollar incomes and estates until the 1960's. Those vast fortunes allowed the "malefactors of great wealth" to buy and control the government through our legalized system of bribery known as "campaign contributions." Is there any wonder why our government now invariably represents the interests of a tiny wealthy minority at the expense of the middle and working classes?

We can have representative government of, by and for the people -- or we can have unregulated, untaxed wealth -- but we can't have both.

Wallace is delusional.

When it came to coverups, Nixon was a lightweight compared to the Dubya Bush regime, which, when testifying to congressional oversight committees used the "I don't remember" strategy -- or failing that, simply resorted to bald-faced lies.

Bush's Congress is/was composed of spineless wimps, compared to the Congress that Nixon faced.

That there still have been no impeachments or perjury convictions for Bush aparatchiks is a national disgrace.

The first casualty is the truth.

Friedman is a textbook example of the veracity of this old adage.

It's amazing how stupid many democratically elected leaders are when reacting to terror attacks by abandoning legal and constitutional rights -- since that reaction is one of the strategic goals of the terrorists.

As for the US-sponsored coup attampt against Chavez, is there any wonder why US-Venezuelan relations are now "strained"? I remember the M$M's jingoistic support for the failed coup -- no different from Hearst's "Remember the Maine" in Cuba.

Disgraceful.

I think Klein, while a war cheerleader at the outset, was merely commenting on the political imagery of Commander Flightsuit that could be exploited in the upcoming election -- not necessarily explicitly voicing approval of the stunt.

Wait her out. Keep your head down, avoid conflict, and just do your job.

If your Boss from Hell is as bad as you say, she will piss-off upper management at some point and she'll be gone.

It will be a ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead moment.

Hitler once said that to understand National Socialism, one had to understand Wagner.

It's probably one of the only true statements Hitler ever made -- not that Wagner should in any way be blamed for the Nazis' atrocities. Hitler also liked dogs.

An important factor seems to be overlooked not just in the Hillary Clinton appointment as Secretary of State, but in the Rahm Emmanuel appointment as WH Chief of Staff as well.

Hillary Clinton, who for all practical purposes would have been "senator for life" from New York, could have probably become Senate Majority Leader (and she certainly would have been an improvement over Harry Reid), and Emmanuel was known to have ambitions to become Speaker of the House.

By accepting appointments to his cabinet, both of these powerful, highly capable and ambitious politicians have shown they were willing to subordinate themselves (and their ambitions) to President Obama in order to serve the national interest. Both will serve at the pleasure of the president and can be fired at any time.

This tells me two things: Obama is an effective arm-twister; and Mr. Emmanuel and Mrs. Clinton are true patriots.

George W. Bush will not only pardon his co-conspirators, named and un-named, he will also pardon himself.

At this point, even Ed Meese and John Mitchell would represent far superior appointments than the shameless hacks and radical ideologues we've seen as Attorney General under the Bush regime.