SAR #10356

I wonder how Ben Bernanke feels about being the last Chairman of the Federal Reserve?   Michael Panzner.

Walking the Walk:  The experts at Merrill Lynch say that the great deleveraging is pretty much just the great walking away from a trillion dollars in underwater mortgages.  The ongoing collapse in home prices – down 28% from the peak so far – has swallowed up the asset value that once underpinned consumer debt.  A  modest portion of the national deleveraging will come from “less consumption.”  But first we’ll spend what once was the mortgage payment.

Sure Thing:   After reading a bunch of forecasts for the coming year, it appears that companies that make anti-depressants may have a growing market.

Trail Balloon's Trial Balloon:  Some Washington insiders are floating the idea that Mr. O is thinking about considering the possibility of proposing some Social Security cuts in his state of the Whole Damned Mess in January.  The general idea seems to be that if he cuts our throats it won't hurt as much as letting a bunch of Republicans do it in February.

No Argument:  'The Unskilled Can Always Become Economists.'  Wish I'd said that.

Roundup Ready:  The Federal government is using Homeland Security, the FBI, state and local police, the credit card processors, Google, Facebook and probably those two beagles down the street to collect information (let's not dignify it with the word 'intelligence') on each and every citizen.  The goal?  Right, our safety.  To protect our freedoms…

Weakly Allowance:  In 2015 our current $14 trillion national debt will morph into $24.5 trillion – about $80,000 per capita.  But if it's in 30 year Treasuries, that's a more manageable $2,500 a year.  Just $50 bucks a week.  Each.  Assuming we've a balanced budget by then.  And you know what they say about 'assume', right?

Simple:  The United States is broke because of the unions and defense spending.  See, I told you it wasn't Medicare or Social Security, and certainly not the free ride the rich and corporations get.

True Story:  Jesus was a liberal.  A progressive.  A socialist.  But that was before John Calvin and the Capitalists converted Him.  And why are there so many little reminders of Homeless Palestinians on front lawns these days?

Real Tale about Spending:  The BLS reports there are 15 million unemployed Americans, 12 million more who are 'underemployed' and a couple of million who have just given up looking.  But never fear, advertisers and retailers will do their best (which is pretty damned impressive) to guilt trip millions of people to go even further into debt in search of our Christmas mirage.

Search Me: Being a graduate student who hopes to work at the South Pole under a State Department contract once I finish my internship with Stars and Stripes, I have no intention of reading any of those nasty WikiLeaks cables.  But you, on the other hand, go right ahead.

Nutshell:  ‘2010 Was The Most Business Friendly Year In Washington Ever’.