A report from CNBC yesterday, November. 2010, announced that the Obama Administration and Congress are working on, and ‘may consider’ a bill for the Lame Duck session to ratify MERS as a legally credible entity and limit its liability in major parts of the foreclosure fraud debacle.

The trial balloon floated by The Obama Deficit Commission co-chairs Simpson and Bowles has been afforded all the respect it deserves. In a statement following the release of the "chairman's mark," Dean Baker does as good a job as anyone in dismantling the report. Baker is perhaps most critical of the ludicrous timing of such a counter-intuitive, anti-stimulative initiative smack dab in the middle of the greatest recession in modern history.

This is an old piece but I think needs resurrection to illustrate some points. 

I keep seeing "President Obama's Bipartisan Deficit Reduction Committee" references in headlines and news articles.  I also see left leaning commenters lament the political disaster this is.  On one hand, I can see this from Obama's point of view.  Sure, he formed the committee and picked its members so it is, in that sense, "his."  But he formed the committee and chose the members so that they could put together a proposal for the rest of us to contend with.  It's "Obama's" in the sense that he hired these people.  But it's their work.  That's a subtle but reasonable distincting.  Those of

A friend of mine posted a question on Facebook today,

You are, my dear capitalism, the best method we have for allocating resources to productive use, for creating wealth and for helping people meet most of their needs, most of the time.

But, seriously?

A restaurant for dogs?

And this just after I saw a cooking show about private chefs making dog food for rich people's pets?

Now that Republicans have regained some of the clout they enjoyed under President Bush, what will become of talk about balanced budgets and spending reform?  Will leaders model fiscal responsibility in fresh and innovative ways that broaden public support?  Or will they merely try to entertain partisans while repackaging the status quo?

From the Desk of tmac... to the World

Long ago, in the 1990's while I was in graduate school the first time I wrote my thesis on Confucianism and  Post-Modern Environmental Philosophy, especially in conjunction the musings of Aldo Leopold in The Land Ethic.

Should a President admit mistakes?

Maybe if Obama could admit a mistake he would be able to turn the tables on this Republican Congress. Recently he kind of admitted a mistake, remember the "too much policy, not enough politics" gambit? Only in this case, I'm thinking too much "politics."