Ambinder sez: “In any event, both Obama and McCain seem to have settled into a bipartisan groove, working, separately, but — finally — in the same direction.” Er, finally? If you check their public statements, neither candidate has ever really disagreed about the bill. In fact, both candidates offered the same criticisms of the bailout […]
Tim Fernholz
Tim Fernholz is a former staff writer for the Prospect. His work has been published by Newsweek, The New Republic, The Nation, The Guardian, and The Daily Beast. He is also a Research Fellow at the New America Foundation.
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THINK TANK ROUND-UP: NO CRISIS FOR THINKING EDITION.
Economics, media studies, and globalization all make cameo appearances in this week’s very special episode of Think Tank Round-Up. States Feeling main street’s pain. According to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report, 15 states and the District of Columbia have developed enormous budget gaps, mirroring the magnitude of budgetary imbalance seen during the […]
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ECONOMIC EDUCATION FOR THE PEOPLE.
A key reason for the failure of the bailout plan to gain enough votes was constituent pressure against it, both from progressives and conservatives. That’s because credible sources have done a poor job of convincing the public of the connection between the financial crisis on Wall Street and its far-reaching consequences for all Americans. I […]
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ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER LOOK AT THE FINANCIAL CRISIS.
The House doesn’t meet again until Thursday, so the question now is: What do the markets do? (I write this minutes before they open.) If they continue to fall, or at least not to post any improvements, then I think Matt’s scenario is right: We’ll probably see a new vote on a substantially similar bill […]
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DID THEY NOT COUNT THE VOTES?
Democratic House Leadership team, you are on notice. Basically no one in D.C., from the House to the Senate to the campaign committees, has any idea what the next moves are now that the first vote has failed. It looks like the House leadership is pushing for a re-vote, hopefully after they figure out where […]
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THE BAILOUT WON’T REALLY COST $700 BILLION.
Over at his blog, CBO Director Peter Orzag has a cost breakdown of the bailout bill or, as the cool kids now call it, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.The most important point is that the bailout will not actually end up costing $700 billion: “The ultimate cost to the government on the transactions […]
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REGULATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON!
Roger Lowenstein had a piece this weekend that succinctly explained why American capitalism needs regulation to survive: This is not to say that Washington is the main culprit. Markets were incredibly foolish. The dubious mortgages that were written, the credit ratings that blessed them and the trust that banks put in them were speculative and […]
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IRAQ QUESTION NOT SO GREAT FOR OBAMA.
On Iraq, it seemed that McCain got the better of Obama because the Democratic nominee failed to present some of his best arguments about the future of Iraq, instead choosing to focus on his correct judgement call at the start of the war. Some facts worth mentioning: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports Obama’s withdrawal […]
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THE BAILOUT DEBATE.
The debate opens, predictably enough, with a discussion of the bailout plan. Neither candidate makes a particularly definitive stand — not too suprising given that the final details of the bill have yet to be determined — but at least Obama is making some sense, and going right to the root cause of the financial […]
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THE HOUSE GOP HAS PROBLEMS WHEN …
… even Hugh Hewitt, a conservative if there ever was one, is urging them to sign on to the amended Paulson bailout plan. While I don’t agree with his ends (elect a new conservative majority in the future) his argument in favor of the plan is pretty much the bare bones don’t-wanna-but-I-hafta approach a lot […]
