Michael Bryan Posted by Michael Bryan Looks like Rep. David Gowan (R-LD30) may be backing off the bill he dropped to cloak legislative commications in secrecy. As I pointed out in a previous post, exempting consistituent communications from public records requests is excessive and unnecessary. Apparently, Gowan decided to actually find out whether his bill is necessary: … Read more
Posted by Michael Bryan Our Governor is delusional. And very rude. Jan Brewer explains her finger-wagging lecture of the President by claiming that "he just doesn't get it." Radio Interview of Brewer. Once again, Brewer has succeeded in making Arizona look foolish in the national press while garnering fawning right-wing press for herself. Apparently, Brewer's … Read more
By Karl Reiner
The financial collapse of 2007-08 brought on the deepest recession since the 1930s. As the world of finance unraveled, the banking sector had to be rescued by the government. Had there been no intervention, the slide would have been much worse, perhaps resulting in a depression. Deregulation and the lack of oversight created the environment which allowed the large financial institutions to get out of control. An unfettered market proved it could run itself into the ground.
Although Tea Party adherents were not unduly alarmed when the growing federal deficit was mostly fueled by expenditures for unfunded wars, they became highly incensed by the government’s desperate spending to stave off economic collapse. Some of the resentment is understandable. The government saved big firms while smaller ones went under, homeowners saw their home value shrink and unemployment escalated.
Unfortunately, the magnitude of the economic damage is grossly underestimated. Consumers, banks and governments are struggling to get out from under a massive load of debt. Five years after the housing sector buckled and knocked the economy apart, 21.8 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed. The fact that the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve and the central banks of Europe all scrambled to intervene in the crisis doesn’t impress the Tea Party faithful. They believe the problems that came with the breakdown of the housing sector can be solved by cutting spending and curtailing government.
Posted by Michael Bryan
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Posted by Michael Bryan As if totally deaf to the historically low regard in which Americans hold their Congress, and the Arizona State Legislature, two Arizona legislators have decided that there is not enough special interest money in our politics, and too much transparency of legislator's communications. [hat tip to Alia Rau at Political Insider.] Representatives … Read more