paulseglund

A CNBC interview of Rep. Barney Frank turns into a train wreck after Frank and CNBC's Mark Haines can't stop talking long enough to listen. Are these two related?

Frank should not be in that position. Please MA vote him out for the good of the country. Politicians are supposed to serve the country and not deflect questions on what they are doing.

California officials say the state risks a financial 'meltdown' within 50 days unless Gov. Schwarzenegger and lawmakers find a way to plug a $24.3B budget gap amid weakening revenues.

First of all abolish the CA Assembly-it costs too much, imposes too many restrictions but other than that basically useless. Then declare bankruptcy to enable the state to renegotiate the bloated contracts to too many union and other politically connected do nothings. Revamp the service level by only funding necessary programs-highways, courts, fire, schools, police to get back to basics. A flat tax would be a great idea if it shelved the income & corporate tax. All this can be done after they drastically cut spending as pretty much all families across the country already have.

GM's new CEO, Edward Whitacre, knows nothing about the auto industry. But he's not worried: "A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I’m not that old (67), and I think the business principles are the same." Many who know him tend to agree.

He is absolutely perfect for the job then.

After congratulating its dealers on "being selected to move forward with the new GM," the automaker tells them they must stop selling non-GM brands, or else.

The winners will be the dealers that got cut loose. Who would want to sell Trabants when you could hook up with Penske?

Mean Street's Evan Newmark thinks TARP architect Hank Paulson is a national hero. Really.

really? for who China?

The government "is now the sole reliable and sufficient source of federal student-loan capital," Obama tells lawmakers, and private lenders should be curtailed in the federal student-loan program.

Where does it all end? Every day there is another industry taken over by the government. What are we going to do to make money in the future? Not everyone can work for the government or there will be no tax revenue, only a shell game. It just occured to me-the housing market is the last bastion for governmental control since they have banks & credit for accounts & financing, autos & public transit for transportation, encroachment in food production ostensibly for our own safety and now people's ability to finance higher education. Lets see water, electricity and primary education are government run. So Energy production & housing are the last of the basic neccesities & they have had issues in the past 12 months so guess whats next. I hate to use the word but exactly what system are we operating under now & what is different from the Soviet Union or any other failed socialist system.

The new forecast for the U.S. budget deficit - which takes into account weaker tax receipts and higher unemployment costs - is $1.75T. That's 12.3% of GDP.

Not only that but I am sure it will turn out to be just an optimistic guesstimate.

Most of the 19 banks commented on their stress-test results. This table summarizes their responses. (source)

I destroyed the TV watching Neal Kashkari on Charlie Rose tonight. The government has been lying to us since the Summer of 2007 according to him. They knew a bubble in housing and credit crisis was a big problem but they continued to say the economy is strong, no credit problems, Fannie & Freddie are well capitalized etc. I know many professionals used these comments to make what turned out to be flawed decisions. All this crap was undertaken to prevent a crisis in the market but that happened anyway. If anyone in the private sector had said this, they would be in deep trouble. Don't be surprised to see the market retest the lows at some point.

The UAW's Chrysler coup is like a scene out of a bad movie.

Great article usurping the rights of bondholder claims although I probably should not agree with it or I will have someone knocking on my door in the middle of the night. All I know is I would never buy a UAW/FED/Fiat car even if forced to. Hiel Obama!

Paul Krugman on the paradox of pay cuts: "If everyone takes a pay cut, nobody gains a competitive advantage. So there’s no benefit to the economy from lower wages. Meanwhile, the fall in wages can worsen the economy’s problems on other fronts."

If the problem is aggregate debt, then lower wages will not release the shackles soon enough to allow growth to return. Higher earning power should lead to capital creation and the industry to generate more earning power. I think Krugman is right on this point anyway.

Steve Forbes calls on the administration to rethink nationalized health care: "President Obama says he wants to make health care affordable for all. Applying free-market principles to health care would do just that."

Why are socialists & communists on an American Financial website? The markets are about so called free market capitalists, although with freedom of speech, you do have the right to speak your mind but at least get the facts straight. The health care system in this country is so highly regulated already that roughly 50% of the cost is for regulation & paperwork. Ask doctors why many are thinking of retiring early? Why is there a nursing shortage? The HMO in post WWII as espoused by Henry Kaiser was actually a great idea-get people to stay healthy & the costs for treating them would be lower. Only when heavy government intervention came along in the 1960's with Medicare & Medicaid did costs for care & insurance skyrocket. If you long for the days when doctors made house calls & you recieved great care, that was free market capitalism-the doctor saw you & handed you the bill & you paid it right there.

Sheila Bair claims there's no mission creep at the FDIC, because the various programs it's participating in insure the stability of the financial system, which was always its goal. To which Felix Salmon responds: "No, Sheila, the goal of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was always, quite narrowly, to insure deposits..."

This whole administration is about mission creep or more accurately mission warp speed.

Paul Krugman on America the Tarnished: "The financial crisis has had many costs. And one of those costs is the damage to America’s reputation, an asset we’ve lost just when we, and the world, need it most."

It is absolutely horrendous. They have killed the goose that laid the golden egg and I am not talking about the reputation but the ideas and work ethic that made this country great is now "out of style".

Considering how an automaker bankruptcy would undermine President Obama's stated goal of 3.5M jobs saved or created, how seriously should we take his tough talk?

He also put his Labor buddy in to run things so no hope of recovery there either. In a couple of years you will be able to buy a Government Motors Lada.

Sure South Carolina governor Mark Sanford wouldn't mind getting his hands on some of that $787B in stimulus cash. "But he understands what many others can't seem to grasp — that once the federal government gets into your business, it's hard to get it out again."

Absolutely right-it will probably happen that if you refuse the money, it may be forced at you anyway. Mark Sanford should run for President in 2012 to help to right so many wrongs that will take place over the next 2-4 years. The Bushies opened the door for a huge increase in governmental control & the Obama meddlers are driving a truck through it.