The National Hustle

This week, President Obama confronted the nay-sayers of his progressive budget:

The American people don’t have the luxury of just focusing on Wall Street. They don’t have the luxury of choosing to pay their mortgage or their medical bills. They don’t get to pick between paying their kids’ college tuition or saving enough money for retirement.

They have to do all these things. They have to confront all these problems. And as a consequence, so do we.

Obama states the obvious that only focusing on the economy (and AIG) is impossible for a successful president, and he’s clearly inherited a bevy of domestic and international issues to address.  He could try to handle them one-by-one, but since the World won’t wait, he should probably start fixing all of them…right…about…now:

• War in Iraq — As we spoon-feed responsibility to the Iraqis in accordance with the agreed-upon mandate, things are improving, right?
• War in Afghanistan — The new administration’s most seasoned veteran of U.S.-Afghan engagement (and I don’t mean just since 9/11), Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is telling everyone who will listen about the complicated difficulties of solidarity in Afghanistan.
• Military presence in Kosovo — Yes, we’re still there, with some criticism that we are using our bases as a European Guantanamo.
• Resurgent Taliban in Pakistan — The tribal regions and Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan are essentially under Taliban control. Continue reading

Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve Chairman) is pissed off.  In a recent 60 Minutes interview he expressed considerable chagrin at the financial situation the U.S. faces (of course, he has nothing whatsoever to do with it) in a rare face to face interview.  Because nearly everything the Federal Reserve Chairman says publicly could trigger massive fluctuations in the stock market, Bernanke decided to wait until things couldn’t get any worse before addressing the nation he serves.

Bernanke consented to an interview because of the “extraordinary times” we are experiencing in our country.  Now I don’t know about you my dear readers, but I might use “extraordinary” to describe Katy Perry’s ahem… lung capacity, but I would definitely not be using the word to describe the extreme economic conditions that a lot of American’s are facing today; an unemployment rate over 8%, spiraling personal debt, and 401k’s worth about…$401 (at least I hope mine is still worth that much).

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