Edwards-Clark or Clark-Edwards? The title is actually intended to mock the proclivity of the press for taking any event and projecting it linearly into the future: Dean is definitely down, but not out. Also, I remain firm in my conviction that Kerry will not be the nominee (though I will support him if he is). […]

We don’t care if it’s right, thorough, or helps prevent future attacks…Just get it done! And by get it done, we mean get it done soon enough that voters won’t remember it come November: A growing number of commission members had concluded that the panel needs more time to prepare a thorough and credible accounting […]

The No Jobs President James K. Galbraith, who heads the University of Texas Inequality Project and who I correspond with fairly often, has today’s lead piece in Salon, The no jobs president. Here’s a highlight: Next, notice when the deep dive ends. That’s right: It was just after Sept. 11, 2001. It’s true that President […]

Mea Culpa? Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler has apparently been getting lots of email alleging that the Post is burying or slanting anti-Bush stories, particularly stories related to Iraq (the WaPo editorial page is pro-war). Point by point, Getler reviews the charges and then admits that they have some merit. The tone is one of […]

What’s With Sully? Noted conservative hack, Andrew Sullivan, posted this on Thursday: LET THE KIDS PAY FOR IT: I’m talking about this $170 billion foray into space. After all, the next generation will be paying for a collapsed social security system, a bankrupted Medicare program, soaring interest on the public debt, as well as coughing […]

American Street Update There’s one more to-be-revealed contributor, but the list is otherwise complete: Angry Bear Bill Scher Chuck Currie Dave Johnson David Neiwert Digby Dirk Steele General J.C. Christian Jeff Alworth Jeralyn Merritt Kash Kevin Hayden Luis Toro Mary Ratcliff Mark A.R. Kleiman Ross skippy Tom Burka The most recent additions are Ross, Tom […]

Full-Scale War in the Senate? With this news, President Bush may have fired the launched a meaner, dirtier, nastier Senate than any of us has ever seen in our lifetimes. Kash

Why Are Long-Term Interest Rates Still So Low? In a thought-provoking post, Brad DeLong ruminates on the fact that bond prices yields are far below where most economists think they should be. My two favorite explanations: 1. Vast quantities of foreign demand for US bonds is keeping bond prices high. As the Treasury report mentioned […]

Foreigners Still Buying US Assets Today the US Treasury released the latest statistics on international capital flows into the US, covering the month of November 2003. It shows a few interesting and surprising things. 1. Foreign private firms and individuals increased their purchases of US stocks and bonds in November. In fact, through Nov 2003 […]

Pension Problems Not good: WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) – The federal agency that provides a safety net for U.S. corporate pension funds said on Thursday that its deficit had more than tripled last year, to a record $11.2 billion. The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures the pensions of about 44 million Americans, had […]