Paul Krugman has an amusing observation:
I’ve been pointing out that the dictatorial powers Paulson has sought would accrue to the next Treasury secretary, who might well be Phil Gramm. I’ve been trying to come up with a liberal-leaning name who might seem equally horrifying to Republicans, and the only one I’ve come up with is … me.
He’s right of course. Of course comparing Krugman to Gramm is outrageous because one man is an expert in economics who’s largely been spot on in the last 10 years on all sorts of matters, including financial, and the other’s Phil Gramm. And yes I think it would be great if Krugman were Treasury secretary.
I’m aware that Congress is under enormous pressure to agree to the Paulson plan in the next few days, with at most a few modifications that make it slightly less bad. Basically, after having spent a year and a half telling everyone that things were under control, the Bush administration says that the sky is falling, and that to save the world we have to do exactly what it says now now now.
But I’d urge Congress to pause for a minute, take a deep breath, and try to seriously rework the structure of the plan, making it a plan that addresses the real problem. Don’t let yourself be railroaded — if this plan goes through in anything like its current form, we’ll all be very sorry in the not-too-distant future.
–Paul Krugman, on Treasury Secretary Paulson’s bailout plan.
Wall Street and the economy might be collapsing. Or something. I’d go read Paul Krugman if I was you.
Paul Krugman in today’s NY Times:
…those who don’t want to nominate Hillary Clinton because they don’t want to return to the nastiness of the 1990s — a sizable group, at least in the punditocracy — are deluding themselves. Any Democrat who makes it to the White House can expect the same treatment: an unending procession of wild charges and fake scandals, dutifully given credence by major media organizations that somehow can’t bring themselves to declare the accusations unequivocally false (at least not on Page 1).
Amen. My #1 concern with Sen. Obama, and his supporters, is that they underestimate the Republicans ability to play dirty. I don’t think Sen. Clinton would make that mistake.