The National Hustle

After nearly nine months in office, President Obama is under heavy pressure to follow through on the campaign promises that got him elected.  Obama inherited a heaping plate of problems from his predecessor, but he now has to take ownership over the successes and failures of these issues, including the economy, health care reform, and the war in Afghanistan.

Although very few Americans had any reservations about retaliating against Al Qaeda and the Taliban after 9/11, the past eight years has seen many Americans become dissolutioned with our role in Afghanistan.  The Iraq War has diverted both military resources and public attention, resulting in today’s all-too-common questions: (1) What are we trying to achieve in Afghanistan?, and (2) Should we send more troops?

To help provide an updated perspective, Frontline aired “Obama’s War” last night:

- Matt

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While many people turn on their auto-response when they hear the phrase “universal health care,” I would like to offer a follow-up to The Camo’s discussion from last week.  Whether you find yourself automatically a proponent or enemy of the concept (whether we have a true grasp of what it means or not), there are a few things far scarier than the government reforming our failing health care system:

1. You or a family member dying because you could not afford proper health care, and
2. Learning that the free market does not always have the motivators in place for insurance companies to break from the pack and do what’s morally right for consumers (read: removing rescission from their arsenal). 

A recent PBS Frontline program covered both these travesties. Continue reading

When we introduced you to “Inside the Meltdown” yesterday, the program brought you into the mess around 2007.  The roots of the economy’s current struggles, however, run far deeper into the decade.  After all, we didn’t get here over night.

With the help of Economist Alan Blinder and Academic Earth, here is a more comprehensive (albeit dry) accounting of the Origins of the Financial Mess.

- Matt

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It only took a few hours after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced his troubled-asset bank relief plan for House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) to label it “fundamentally flawed” and a “shell game that hides the true cost of the program from the taxpayers that will be asked to pay for it.”

While the country’s economy struggles and attempts to “right the ship” have been met with heavy partisan politics, it appears Geithner’s “bank plan” is not sitting well with every Democrat on Capitol Hill either.  Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California criticized the plan for rescuing banks while neglecting taxpayers.  This is a common refrain that’s beginning to sound like a broken record: Why are we “bailing out” banks that got us into this mess?!  Trust me, I’ve asked myself this many times.

Continue reading