The New Republic

I completely agree with the economic case on the need for greater stimulus. I sort-of agree with the political argument that President Obama blew it by not passing a larger stimulus then the one he did. (If he proposed, say, a $2 trillion stimulus, maybe the moderates would have considered the moderate thing to do knocking it down to $1.5 trillion. On the other hand, maybe they would recoiled and have killed it altogether.) READ MORE >>

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  -- Felix Salmon responds to today’s huge dip in the Dow.   -- In which Tim Geithner stars in the sequel to The Exterminating Angel.   -- Jacob Weisberg says politics is “broken in every possible way.”   READ MORE >>

Will Wilkinson objects to Democrats referring to Republican debt ceiling tactics as terrorism: READ MORE >>

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Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen have a big story story about the political headwinds facing President Obama's reelection efforts, but I think the crux of the dilemma is really identified better by Ian Swanson: READ MORE >>

The New York Times floats a list of possible successors to Tim Geithner. My lord, this is horrific: READ MORE >>

One of the most effective Republican themes of the last two years has been blaming President Obama for the explosive growth in the budget deficit since 2009. The accusation that "Obama's spending binge" has blown up the deficit has discredited any further fiscal stimulus, and helped encourage Republicans to use the debt ceiling as a hostage. READ MORE >>

I don't think I've ever seen a movie star attempting to promote his own film go negative in quite the way Jason Bateman did in his Daily Show interview the other day. Jon Stewart needles him about the premise of the movie, and he replies: It's crap. It's garbage. But here's what I'm going to promise you. While it is a tired, some would say "pleasantly familiar" premise... our obligation, gang, is to please you post-switch, right? READ MORE >>