Does anyone care... who's secretary of commerce? Is it just me? It seems pretty inconsequential? -- Johnnyd

Locke is an excellent choice. Much better than Richardson (how much commerce is NM involved in?) or Judd (how much commerce is NH involved in?). Besides being the home to Boeing, Microsoft, Norstrom, Weyehaeuser, RealNetworks, etc., etc., Washington is the most trade dependent state in the union.

If we do, the increase in national debt under Reagan will look like child's play.

The national debt run up during Shrub's administration dwarfs Reagan's debt.

http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm

We are being asked to spend these unprecedented amounts, to increase the national debt by an unprecedented amount, and to do it all without taking the time to even post the spending bill online for 48 hours so people will have time to read it.

Again, you've been asked more than once, what's the answer Mr. PhD in economics from Penn? And quit being so melodramatic. The Iraq war has cost more than the stimulus package and has benefited only Halliburton and the military-industrial complex.

The theory doesn't work, this is just panic and good old-fashioned barrel-rolling that we and our grandchildren will be paying off for the rest of our lives. -- Calvin Coolidge

First of all, it isn't "theory." Macro economic stimulus is an accepted economic principle.

And if I hear or read another idiot going on about our grandchildren having to pay for this stimulus, I'm gonna start another revolution in Cuba.

Our current ME misadventure, which has cost more than the proposed stimulus and has done nearly as much to bankrupt the country as the housing bubble, has done nothing but ruin our standing in the world, kill perhaps a hundred thousand people in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is something our grandchildren will be paying for. "My tax dollars and government borrowing did nothing but destroy Iraq, and all I got was this lousy fucking T-shirt."

But sure, I loved Obama's bashing irresponsible CEOs and and his unmistakable criticism of his Republican predecessor.

While no one should have expected anything from the incompetent and pro-business Bush administration in terms of oversight, had Clinton not signed just two bills deregulating lending and investment, it's pretty safe to say that we wouldn't be in the same financial mess we find ourselves today.

Obama could be America's greatest president ever, but he still has to work with and through Congress, and Congress is composed primarily of bad people. If they aren't bad, they're stupid. I have seen nothing so far, though it is early, to indicate that the current Congress is remarkably better than any of the previous.

. . . never good for the U.S.

Has anyone asked how the ibn Saud clan feels about this They are the largest holders of Citi at about 25-26% of all shares. What's good for Citi is good for Saudi Arabia.-- squishyblue

Oregon does not have significant reserve funds, so is vulnerable during economic downturns.

Oregon has a supremely stupid state law that requires excess tax revenues to be refunded to the payers. So, they never have a surplus that can be used to expand a program, pay for something needed or put away in a "rainy day" fund.

Boo! What a misleading lead. I thought Emanuel was doing the right thing for America and stepping down as chief of staff.

And good thing Joe Namath and the New York Jets beat the Colts in the Super Bowl 10 years later. The NFL might not have kept growing without that. Without Magic and Larry, the NCAA Tournament would be on C-Span today.

Americans have been addicted to television sports for about 35-years now. The fact that ESPN can broadcast the "sport" of poker to apparently acceptable ratings shows that American's, the lumpen couch potatoes that most of them are, will watch anything.

Can a fascinating new history help us understand our own violent times? By Andrew O'Hehir

Data for the last 20 years or shows that violent crime has declined.

Most liberal senator: Washington's Patty Murray

Murray voted to confirm at least half of Bush's court and cabinet appointees.

. . . but, realistically, taxpayers have no say in how any of this will work. If they did, I'm sure we would have had a lot more money designated for mass transit and alternative energy R&D.

After the various books that have come out on the CIA (Legacy of Ashes) and the NSA (The Puzzle Palace) over the last few years, I can't help but think that our spook agencies do us as much harm as they do good.

COMMENTARY: Stop the Stimulus; I Want to Get Off! By Joseph J. Honick Bainbridge Island, WA (HNN) -- Yep, it’s time to yell “whoa, Nellie” to this thing called the “stimulus.” . . . Not because some desperate action was uncalled for, but because the very people sucking on the government’s breast the most are the very culprits who helped to cause the mess in the first place… . . . -- jhonick

This blogger from Bainbridge Island is apparently rather confused because he seems to be conflating the various financial bailouts with the stimulus package.

. . . Mervyns was in a very crowded market of low to mid range department stores. One of them, Mervyns, Target, Fred Meyer, K-Mart, Sears, Penny's and WalMart, was going to go out of business, regardless, and it wasn't going to be WalMart. I'm surprised that a market saturated to the degree it is can support even three of four of these chains.

I love my smartphones. I must, since I have three active at the moment.

Who in the world needs three phones of any kind? Sad.