Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In

The Onion reports.

WASHINGTON—A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest.

"What America needs right now is not more talk and long-term strategy, but a concrete way to create more imaginary wealth in the very immediate future," said Thomas Jenkins, CFO of the Boston-area Jenkins Financial Group, a bubble-based investment firm. "We are in a crisis, and that crisis demands an unviable short-term solution."

Privatized Profits, Socialized Costs

America: the home of corporate state socialism. See the Huffington Post piece here.

The Republican dream -- privatize profits, socialize costs -- is now the norm. This will be the trend for the foreseeable future. Corporations will be backed by tax dollars. Those who reap the billions will pay little or no tax. Those who reap none of the profit will pay all of the tax. Despite all of this, these corporations are still allowed to play without any rules, and make as many reckless moves as they want, with our money, without penalty. This is now the reality with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This is also what Mussolini called 'fascism':

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

Informative Investigative Report on Universal Health Care

at NPR, here. The interactive graphic, which allows you to compare the health care plans of various Western European countries with that of the U.S., is especially helpful.

Seymour Hersh on Covert Operations in Iran

on Fresh Air with Terri Gross, here.

Why Deficits Matter

A helpful piece over at Mother Jones.

A Refutatation of the Key Thesis of The Tipping Point

I Feel Sorry for the Factory Workers, Etc.; Not So Much for the Execs

Here. Bye-bye, stupid SUV producers, with you're lack of foresight.

Deepening Cycle of Job Loss Seen Lasting into '09

See the NY Times piece Here.