Great article over at Slate.com , with the following as an example:

But David Rosenberg, Merrill Lynch's straight-talking chief economist for North America, says it might be different this time. The reason: The chunk of the stimulus package likely to get spent is roughly equivalent to the amount Americans are paying for higher food and gas prices because of inflation. Put another way, you've already spent your stimulus at ExxonMobil.

...and ditto for grain and grain-based products.  and grain-based product accessories.  and anything that has to be transported somewhere.

It's been a while--a great while--since the US had itself some inflation worth speaking about, but it would seem that things are already fairly far gone.  

thank goodness we have that sop of a tax "rebate."  Why people think such tactics are anything other than a symptom of an underlying problem is anyone's guess.  doesn't "tax rebate" just simply smell like a bandaid?  

In any event, the title of the article ,

Honey, I Ate the Rebate

You've already spent your tax windfall on gas and bread.

really says it all. 

The GAO (Government Accountability Office) issued a report this month that slams the Bush Administration for its utter failure to address the terrorist threat posed by Al Qaeda. 

Here's the title:  The United States Lacks a Comprehensive Plan to Destroy the Terrorist Threat and Close the Safe Haven in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas

Here's the actual report (PDF).

It is nothing less than astonishing, although hardly surprising given the Shrub's record, that seven years after 9/11 the government is still asleep at the switch.  Bush was asleep at the switch then, as I recall.  The need for a change could not be more clear.

4000

Crayon Physics Deluxe

"Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It
is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old
reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world
of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less
but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be
progress toward more pain."

Orwell.  1984. 1948. 

What is it with the freakin' scandals in Washington?  When are we going to get to the point that marital infidelity of politicians doesn't lead on the main news sources?

The story , of course, is Eliot Spitzer's apparent involvement in a prostitution "ring".  Really, it's a bit misleading to call it a "ring", isn't it?  Basically, at least from early reports, the guy gets caught with his pants down and looks--quite rightly--like a fuckin' sleazeball.

But, objectively, who gives a shit other than his immediate family and a bunch of closeted homosexuals who call themselves "Christians"?

The bottom line is that Spitzer has fought the good fight in the public sphere.  In the private, much like Bill Clinton, he's doing stupid shit.  But don't kid yourself:   the hay being made out of concern for his personal peccadilloes is not based in concern for his private life, but rather is a lever to undercut his public persona and policy.  The Whiff of Rove is in the air.

And here's the MONEY QUOTE:

"I think there's no question if he is involved -- and I'm not saying he is, because we don't know all the facts -- I would say he'd have to resign," said James Tedisco, the Republican minority leader in the state Assembly.

Tedisco said that Spitzer's push to reform government "loses all validity if he was involved in something illegal like that."

The Republican Governors Association called on Spitzer, a Democrat, to resign to "allow the people of New York to pursue honest leadership."

 

message:  THINK WITH YOUR DICK, LOOK LIKE ONE. 

What's not to like about Scout Niblett?