THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER'S RECESSION
Those obstructionist Republicans lost another 651,000 potential voters last week, which not coincidentally is the number of people who filed new unemployment claims. This brings to 4.4 million the job lost since the Bush recession began in December 
2007, while economists not working for CNBC expect the hemorrhaging to continue into 2010.
Undeterred, obstructionist-friendly pundits slimed right past the grim news and jumped on Michelle Obama and David Brooks.
The Missus caught heat for serving mushroom risotto to a homeless guy at a soup kitchen who had a camera cellphone, for crying out loud. (Where do they send the bill?). At least she was wearing a sweater and not exposing those much publicized arms.
Brooks, who backtracked from a widely remarked on NYT column explaining that his moderate feathers had been ruffled because of The Mister's gadzillion dollar spending priorities, was accused of heresy because he had a change of mind 
after chatting with some White House staffers and found their arguments to be "sophisticated and fact-based."
Oh the horror!
As bleak as Republican fortunes seem to be these days, the slime squad could be cheered by CNBC smacked ass Jim Cramer.
The man with the abysmal stock-picking track record, and some pretty fugly looking arms, as well, screeched that the stock market has continued its southward plunge since Obama was 
inaugurated because he has created an "atmosphere of fear and panic," while unemployment, insolvent banks and tanking consumer confidence are mere afterthoughts.
Then there is Karl Rove, the guy for whom politics always trumps policy, who is whining that the White House is engaging in "old-style politics" in putting banana peels in the path of a certain corpulent, drug-abusing, cigar-smoking megaphone who is proudly bellowing that he hopes that President Hopenchange fails.
The reason for this treachery, he explains, is to avoid having a debate about economic policy. Natch.
CNBC, the Cartoon Network Business Channel. What Cramer and Kudlow have done, and continue to do, really should be a crime.
ReplyDeletemikefromtexas
First Shaun, I loved this piece. I liked not only the substance but the style.
ReplyDeleteAs for Cramer and Kudlow, I wrote to CNBC and complained about them both and they were causing decisiveness and I was not going to watch them anymore. I had a number of others write as well. I recommend anonymous above write as well. The wealthy hate having any restrictions on their ability to take from the poorer. All they have is Tax cuts for every problem.
I see you are about my age. I remember the 50's quite well and had a good time in those years when Eisenhower was President. The tax rate on the upper tier earners was 90%. When Kennedy became President he reduced it to 70%. I remember the 60's were good too. Now we have 35% as the top rate and President Obama wants to raise it a little and all you hear is crying, moaning and screaming over the idea. Wish these Republicans weren't such little spoiled children, but they are. They all need a thrashing or at least a good spanking!