I think both Stiglitz and Krugman do think a hard fall is coming sooner than later. The financial reform bill was too weak to begin with and the TeaBaggers in the House are defunding it so nothing is being watched or enforced.

Good lord, and Mitch is one of their floaters?

This situation is everything that is wrong with BHO.
He and the Dems are guilty of political malpractice on a massive scale.
Inept, ham-handed, stupid and cowardly are inadequate descriptions of the lot.
Jon is right; Who can blame the Republicans for hard-charging when presented with such slow footed and stupid opposition?

So, spending cuts to pay for more tax cuts for GE, the Koch Bros. and their friends, all the while tossing Gigantic Copay all the Medicare tax collections.

We got Medicare in the first place because even in the 60s insuring old people was a losing deal. Couldn’t charge the old people anything close to what they could afford and still make a profit. So, Medicare.

Now these cretins are selling the idea that, you guessed it, the invisible hand of the free market will solve the problem

Anybody have an anti-nausea pill for me?

They are squeezing the life out of the nation. This is outrageous beyond all decency. Yet nothing will happen at the corporate or gubmint level. Just more platitudes, ‘revues’, and excuses.

America has become a destructive economic experiment, conducted on us without our consent or permission.
Oops, maybe we did consent, in the last election?

Something has to slap the majority of Americans awake, and they have to stop the back and forth movement every other election.

Here’s some more irony to chew over;

As BHO and the oligarchy force march hundreds of thousands of Americans into foreclosure and bankruptcy and poverty, we are all going to be expected to bail out the banks that are too big fail, , , , ,

IN AFGHANISTAN!!

Yep, that’s right. All those $billions contributed by us and some allies were invested by our corrupt ‘partners’ in the Karzai regime in the Dubai real estate bubble, which then collapsed, taking all those billions away.

It’s called the Kabul Bank, and it’s the closest thing to a central bank for Afg. It pays all gubbmint employees, including the Army.

Should be interesting.

Here’s some funny irony: The whole IM idea was Newt Gingrich’s in the late 90s when he was trying to pitch himself as a healthcare expert!!
And the Dems bought into it, and featured it in their bill!!!

‘Stupid is as stupid does.’

I get your point. It’s trying to use their illogic to back your ideas. Not good.
Similar to using the Spotted Owl or Snail Darted to save an entire ecosystem because they are endangered. What if they go extinct? No reason left to save the ecosystem. Bring in the dozers, boys!

Unfortunately the TeaParty in charge of the House has delivered a hard punch to the face of the American people and will be following that up with a baseball bat to the knees in the final push off the cliff into 3rd world status.

And they seem to be on the rise. Lots of state houses are under their control. Look at Tuberstan (Idaho). They are ready to pass ‘nullification’ laws. The same moves made by the Confederacy. Ditto Texas, with prison terms for anyone trying to implement Obamacare.

And the final horror; Obama’s SOTUS. It’s gonna make for lots of vomiting in America.

America has decided to destroy itself, and the momentum seems unstoppable.

1. It’s virtually impossible
2. Imagine the T-Party with total power.

I like the idea of turning the Senate into the House of Lords, little or no real power.
But it looks like ‘Merica is ready to hand over the Senate to the Repimplicans.
What then?

Perhaps straight yes/no votes, no amendments, with reasonable debate limits.
They obviously can’t cope with the power they now have.

Yeah, he actually ‘negotiated’ with Billy Tauzin, of all people re. Big Pill non-reform.

Scenario 4.2.3;
The filibuster is eliminated just as the Dems lose power in the Senate. This is the way they work.

This monster needs to be stopped.
Too bad BHO and the Dems missed the only chance we may ever get to do it.

Gotta agree. Say bye bye to state parks, national parks, anything that can be sold. Zion Canyon? Only the rich will see it. Delicate Arch? Rich golfers only.

The oligarchy knows we still have a little $$ stashed in the bank, the 401k and in SocSec income, and they want it, , , , , AND THEY WANT IT NOW GODDAM IT!!!!

Wait a minute! Watching the Dems and BHO ‘handle’ the Republicans is like watching a 14 year old virgin middle schooler handle a $1200 per hour call girl.

The reforms will happen, just as the Republican majority take power in Jan. ’13.
And the Dems will do it for them in their lame duck session. Why? They are hapless idiots.

Look, the Dems and BHO need to be jailed for political malpractice. I think they still don’t know what’s going on (that being); The morphine drip has been slipped in their arm, McConnell and Boehner are sweet talking in their ear as they are slow danced into the Republican gas chamber.

Let’s see; Moody’s is the outfit that gave AAA ratings to Goldman’s toxic instruments of financial mass destruction, aren’t they?

Problem with a 3rd party in America; We are a winner take all republic. There is no proportional representation.
We are the weakest form of democracy, as designed. In a Euro. parliamentary democracy a 3rd party has a much better chance because at least the few seats it wins in parliament can be used to build coalitions and exert some influence.
We are one person = 1/4 vote.

There are entire ‘pro-rep’ systems being talked about, but it will never happen here.

Or ‘A bridge too far’,??

Looks like all Americans are against this stupid stupid FICA tax ‘holiday’. They feel the cold dead hands of the oligarchy closing around their necks.

OK, once and for all somebody has to start shouting that the ‘Payroll Tax Holiday’ is the worst idea since shitcake.
It’s Grover Norquist’s wet dream. He rubs em out thinking about this.

Most Americans don’t even know what the media and pols are talking about when they say ‘cut the payroll tax’. Most people’s eyes just light up and they agree. If they are told it’s defunding SocSec the story might change.