As for me, I voted for Obama because he is a PRAGMATIST who is more interested in getting things done than adhering to ideological purity. -- Jiggs11

People's dissatisfaction with Washington insiders like Emanuel has nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with making meaningful changes in the way we are governed. Obama undershot this goal by miles with the stimulus package he pushed for. He needed to come out blazing, not offering olive branches to obstructionists - legislators perfectly content with the status quo. This is exactly what people like Emanuel represent.

This whole economic collapse started when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (US backed mortgage companies) were forced to give out risky loans. This was OK in economic prosperity but as soon as housing stabilized than many of these loan holders could no longer pay. . . . -- Soliel

Fannie and Freddie don't initiate loans. They are not mortgage companies. They provide market clearing for RE loans and offer default insurance. The RE problem stems entirely from mortgage companies and banks relaxing traditional lending requirements. Nothing more, nothing less.

The market started going down in the fall of '07 as polls indicated the Carterites would be back in charge. The market discounts the future, and, with a looming Democrat victory, it rolled over, and now it is falling off a cliff.

As of the Fall of 2007, no one was entirely sure of who all was running for president. There was certainly no favorite at that time.

In contrast, Reagan's tax cuts of '82 ended a lengthy bear market which lasted from JFK's assassination through June of '82. Reagan's policies brought down the Soviet Union and fueled a great bull market which brought us great prosperity for 25 wonderful years.

Actually, the Dow was flat for about thirty years from Johnson to Carter. While the Dow did double under Reagan (as did the national debt), for good or bad, the Dow nearly tripled during the 8 years of the Clinton presidency, and the national debt was being retired.

The rate of unemployment for the entire Reagan administration, which peaked at 9.7% in 1983, was higher than it was for the Carter administration. Unemployment didn't fall below 6% until 1987. During the Carter administration, the unemployment rate never got above 8.3%. It finally went below 6% the year Reagan left office, but climbed to 7.5% under Bush the Elder. It dropped below 7% during Clinton's first months, staying below 5.7% for the rest of Clinton's second term, and below 5% for the last three years.

As soon as demagogues like Reid & Pelosi were able to lick their chops, it was all suddenly over.

This seems to be a non sequitur.

We now have an era of wealth destruction underway, brought to you by the same ignorance which brought our parents and grandparents the Great Depression. -- zoltan newberry

Seems to me that the only people who have been destroying any wealth around here these days are CEOs, none of whom, to date, have suffered in the least financially or criminally for their dishonesty and incompetence.

. . . probably isn't smart enough to be in grad school, unless it's business school, of course.

LW Please Read Me! Join the military! Here's why. There are just things you'll never learn, never experience otherwise. There is a sense of service; a sense of accomplishment; an air of confidence that you will gain. You will visit exotic and often impoverished areas of the world which makes you appreciate your privileged life in America. You will bond with other men and women and create lifetime friendships. Men and women who will stand beside you, who will truly have your back. -- mkvanderpool

Then maybe he should join the Peace Corp or work for Catholic Relief Services? Then you wouldn't have to, perhaps, kill anyone or destroy anything and you'd be there for a positive purpose, something our military hasn't been tasked with much for the last two decades and isn't likely to in the near future being in the middle of two wars that we started but have no chance of winning in any meaningful sense of the word.

We have a severe shortage of cannon fodder right now in the Army and the Marines (Navy and Air Force don't count). Unless you're a complete physical washout, you're more than likely to be attached to a combat or combat support unit right now. And if this is the case and they make you a lieutenant because you're so smart, remember that sergeants will hate you and none of the grunts will respect you.

. . . can you define your terms? How about a real world example of what in your opinion isn't really organic but meets USDA standards.

...that there will be more rigorous and sensible standards for the term "organic" soon. As it is, you never really have a clue what it means when a product claims to be "organic," even when it's "USDA certified." -- DoubleHelix

. . . just what do you suggest we do if you're so much smarter than Reich and a few dozen economists, at least two of them Nobel laureates, who favor Keynesian style stimulus? (And, BTW, there is no such thing as "real wages." Wages are wages. As an economist, you should know that.)

The criticism is that these models make no sense from a micro perspective. They assume that people are systematically fooled. They see a higher wage in the infamous "short term", and work harder and spend more. The problem is, the model assumes that the people don't realize their stimulus job is temporary, that real wages are not permanently higher as a result of the stimulus. In the real world, they are likely to try and save some of those wages, to offset the loss of their job once the stimulus runs out, and to offset the higher taxes and interest rates they will face for the rest of their lives and the lives of their children as a result of all the borrowing.

-- Calvin Coolidge