Be more like Duhbya

Instead of moving to nationalize failing banks, Obama should follow Duhbya's obviously successful gambit with Lehman Brothers and let some big banks fail. Yep, that's what free market fundies John "Don't know much about economics" McCain and Richard Shelby have to say.

Of course, the problem from the center is that Obama's policy of sucking down endless capital infusions for the benefit of executives whose epic fails caused these problems is foolish, too.

I wasn't very far ahead of the curve, but in the fall, when I heard that the bailed out banks were using their free money for acquisitions instead of loans, I asked the question: If the problem in the economy is that credit is drying up, why not cut out the middle man, nationalize failed banks, and make the responsible loans ourselves?

Some people deserve to go broke. There are ways to make sure they do without screwing all the rest of with a decade-long depression.

Not even the cow catcher

Republican DNA has two deleterious traits:

• Utter faith in the so-called free market to solve every problem they care about
• An eagerness for other people to suffer so that they'll become as virtuous as the wealthy (yeah, no shit!)
  

These are people who will still baldly assert despite the locomotive sounds and the dopplered train whistle that the oncoming 4:00 a.m. express is really the light at the end of the tunnel, right up to the moment its impact liquefies their (useless) cerebral cortexes.

John McCain wants a stimulus that's half the already too small size of the Obama stimulus and 50% useless tax cuts to boot. Yep, just one more proof that he was (briefly) honest when he admitted knowing nothing about economics.

We're at risk here. Our kids are going to pay the bill either way, thanks to the Bushist borrow and spend policies. Would they be better off with a revitalized economy or with one coming out of depression?

To me, the answer couldn't be more obvious. But Republicans love to tell us how much better we'll be as people if we get back to basics - like lower wages, less leisure, and gratitude to them for reducing us to penury.