Category: News

Business Week. Mark Weisbrot agrees with me as he makes the case that the US cannot sustain superpower spending for much longer. A combination of a high current debt levels (67.5% of GDP), a high annual deficit of $639 billion (this is less the sleight of hand with the trust funds), rising interest rates (inflation… Continue reading Business Week

“Committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President”. Oh, jeez — it looks the first major vote-tallying computer error has come out of Ohio, to the tune of nearly 4,000 votes accidentally awarded to Bush in one voting precinct alone. Given that the current difference between Bush and Kerry in the state… Continue reading “Committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President”

Bush lays out firm course. WASHINGTON — Declaring “I've got the will of the people at my back,” President Bush yesterday outlined a broad agenda for his second term that will include attempts to revamp the nation's tax code and Social Security system while pursuing an aggressive foreign policy aimed at protecting the United States… Continue reading Bush lays out firm course

The working class flocks to GOP. A losing cultural and religious battle, combined with too little talk of the economy and too much late-campaign focus on Iraq, is probably what doomed Sen. John Kerry's bid on Election Day. That was the thrust of the post-mortem this morning conducted by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, who worked… Continue reading The working class flocks to GOP

It is interesting that the “corrupt” and “liberal” Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country. In contrast, the so-called “Bible Belt” runs 50% higher than the national average. [John Robb's Weblog]

Here's one idea that needs to be talked about: being a superpower will bankrupt any nation that attempts it. The Soviet Union's financial demise was proof of concept. The fact that the US didn't collapse in the eighties was due to the superiority of our economic system. It didn't mean that we could continue the… Continue reading Here's one idea that needs to be talked about: being a superpower will bankrupt any nation that attempts it.

The Soviet Union's financial demise was proof of concept. The fact
that the US didn't collapse in the eighties was due to the superiority
of our economic system. It didn't mean that we could continue the
effort indefinitely without severe damage and eventual collapse.

Sure, on the surface our economy looks great. However, as you dig
deeper the damage become visible. The large budget and trade deficits
we have been running since Reagan's defense surge in the 80's have had
an impact. Warren Buffett's analysis demonstrates this:

In the late 1970s the trade situation reversed, producing
deficits that initially ran about 1% of GDP. That was hardly serious,
particularly because net investment income remained positive. Indeed,
with the power of compound interest working for us, our net ownership
balance hit its high in 1980 at $360 billion.

Since then, however, it's been all downhill, with the pace of
decline rapidly accelerating in the past five years. Our annual trade
deficit now exceeds 4% of GDP. Equally ominous, the rest of the world owns a staggering $2.5 trillion more of the U.S. than we own of other countries. Some
of this $2.5 trillion is invested in claim checks—U.S. bonds, both
governmental and private—and some in such assets as property and equity
securities.

This loss of ownership has now reached 5% growing at a rate of 1% a
year (a rate that will accelerate as the power of compounding interest
works against us). The real question for all us is: when will the
superpower tax overwhelm us financially and we end up with the same
fate as the Soviet Union? [John Robb's Weblog

Good and evil. My pitch to Democrats: let’s go back to the beginning, to the intellectual foundation. Let’s talk about good and evil. Let’s not be afraid to use those words. The idea is to stand for something, a real morality, rather than use fear-disguised-as-morality as a wedge issue. [inessential.com]

Economist: “As Mr Bush has often said, there is a need in life for accountability. He has refused to impose it himself, and so voters should, in our view, impose it on him, given a viable alternative. John Kerry, for all the doubts about him, would be in a better position to carry on with… Continue reading Economist

Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Rumsfeld's War. Excellent PBS Frontline special tonight on Rumsfeld's War. Can't say there is any radically new material here, but it does a good job of peeling back the layers of politics and exposing the decision-making process, the personal battles, and the complete failure to anticipate… Continue reading Never get involved in a land war in Asia

Petty Thugs. In all the election chaos (and I do mean chaos) we shouldn't lose sight of what the fundamental issues are. For me, the core issue is that the Bush administration continues to act like a gang of petty thugs, accountable to no one. We're supposed to be the beacon of freedom to the… Continue reading Petty Thugs