Dear William,

Seems conservative opinion shifter David Brooks is at it again not content simply to rewrite history, his de facto persona, but reality as well. He goes a bit too far me thinks in trying to justify the elections outcomes and the American value system. So it is that he can make a statement like this: "Yet, I’m optimistic right now. I’m optimistic because while our political system is a mess, the economic and social values of the country remain sound. My optimism is also based on the conviction that serious, vibrant societies don’t sit by and do nothing as their governments drive off a cliff." Really, the economic values that led individuals to massively over leverage their lives in pursuit of over consumption are sound values. Indeed, so after we finish deleveraging from this last binge we should do it again! Our sound social values require that we pay our government to wage war and reap destruction on people in far off places instead of building a foundation for growth ...

What's a US President recently slammed in the mid term elections and in need of some economic recovery to do? Hit the road and visit prospective customers of course. So President Obama is off to India laying the ground work for Boeing, GE and other US military contractors to reap the rewards of India's economic growth and insecurities. Surely, our Nobel Peace Prize winning president should have seen this moment coming and should have made a greater attempt to preempt it with a war on energy to supplement its economic impact. Weighing on our economy long before the housing crisis and why the Bush Administration was so eager to wage war around the world. Making weapons of war is our national industrial policy and Americans have been indoctrinated to forget the fiscal, never mind moral, weight that our country bears as a result. But what else can a president do when your economies biggest companies can no longer survive on the largess of the two wars of the last administratio...

What to take from and look for in the aftermath of the 2010 election? More money to buy votes thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision--a good development for Democracy? Big Oil losses in California and the Governator and prospects for a green economy win. The Tea Party not Democrats or President Obama set to be John Boehner's worst nightmare? Healthcare Reform incredibly a net negative for Democrats. Finally, it was the economy, stupid! Who knew that the economic policy planning--stimulus, tax incentives and bail outs were all designed to maximize the potential for a positive electoral outcome for Democrats. So what happened? Not surprisingly Summers, Geithner and Bernanke underestimated the extent of the down turn and continue to box themselves in with the failed monetarist framework. Congress suffering from a lack of imagination failed to have a real conversation outside of extending tax breaks for wealthy individuals about what real options are available. ...