Steve-AR @ 94

Kevin Hayden @ 86

I sure hope you are right about the economy but a much worse situation also may happen. Fed policy seem to be to keep the smoke and mirrors going until the Dems take over. The full extent of the mortgage/real estate disaster won’t show up until April May next year. The last estimate that I saw was that at least 2 trillion $ will be sucked out of the economy by a falling housing market in the next two years. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

The housing bubble peaked more than two years ago and historical bubbles take about 3 years to bottom, so you’re right. But the stockmarkets are predictive and will likely bottom by February. It’s the historical flatline that follows that which poses the bigger problem: few dollars for any initiatives beyond economic patches.

This is why I’m an advocate for more populist rhetoric than most of the candidates are advancing: the bottom 40% is gonna be hurting bad and it’s time to pull Reagan Democrats back into the fold. Healthcare’s great but jobs and wages are gonna be serious issues soon.

I agree with one addition. I think this is a Republican play to prevent Democrats in the White House from ever having enough leeway to consider health care reform and some other things without great hesitation. They don’t want us to achieve anything great, so they give us a flat or plunging economy.

This is a critical term a Democratic President must use to bash ‘em hard with real change to help common folks! That’s another reason, a purely political one, I think Edwards is best suited to.

Hillary says fix the economy and cut the debt. Fine, but it doesn’t really get America where we need to go, it’s just treading water.

BTW, have you noticed how beautifully written are Edwards recent speeches. They’re like mannah from Heaven.

The bottom line is that by 01/20/09, this country is going to be in economic and foreign policy crisis not seen in generations. Who is the best person to do the hostile take over from the Thugs and to keep this Country afloat? The Republicans first and only allegiance is to Party and not Country. Which Dem can take the heat and fight back?

In terms of a person’s strength and intelligence and perhaps contentiousness, I think Hillary could, but won’t because she wouldn’t want her admin. to be about them. She would want it to be about her, even if she just sits on the throne 4 years and does nothing. I think John Edwards is both capable and perhaps leaning that way, though he has a strong agenda to carry forward.

So, in the end, there probably isn’t anybody who is directly going to spend much time fighting Repubs instead of executing their own plans.

Perhaps it’s this internal strength and drive which attract many of us to either Hillary or Edwards.

Of course, as I’ve said many times, I favor Edwards because it seems he has all the usual good qualities we look for, plus his world-view is very people-oriented and not just power-grabbing money-oriented.

George Simian @ 47

I think that it’s pretty lame that Hillary can’t be judged on her own merits, ie as a Senator. And also to just assume that she’ll carry on with exactly the policies of her husband, which everyone does assume, is not based on facts. You would be voting for Hillary, not Bill. She would be making the State of the Union address and running the country.

A fair point. But its hard to see HRC in the position to run for President if not for her exposure as First Lady. Even if she had won the Senate seat only on her own merits, she wouldn’t be where she is in the race.

But even if it were possible to leave all the Bill baggage behind, I’m looking at a Senator who voted for the war, hasn’t backed away from that vote in the way Edwards has, and whose voice didn’t seem to be anywhere to be heard throughout the first four years of her term when Bush and his minions were running roughshod over the Senate. So her own merits don’t exactly leave me warm and fuzzy, either…

Judge her on her own merits, as all candidates should be judged. Anything else is unfair. Your reliance on “Bill baggage” to criticize her is a cop-out. It also makes my feminist radar go off. If you stick to the facts of her public service and her plans for this country, as you did in the post above, there is plenty to criticize without mentioning Bill. And plenty of reasons to support a different candidate (as I do).

I think that the founders would not be bothered by two legitimately elected Clintons. The dynasty issue has undue weight because of Bush’s stolen elections. If we were in the final year of the Gore administration, we wouldn’t be talking about two families dominating national politics for 25 years.

ResCap Credit Swaps Soar on Concern It May Default (Update1)

Trading in ResCap credit-default swaps “suggests that investors fear the parent company, and the bankers, may step away from the situation and allow ResCap to default,” Shanley said.

Credit rating pancakes… now a short stack…

Mmmmmmm……short stack……….

Wells Fargo: Housing worst since Great Depression

“We have not seen a nationwide decline in housing like this since the Great Depression,” Stumpf said at a Merrill Lynch & Co banking conference in New York.

The Bush tax cuts just keepin working! Thanks, Republicans!

Trading in ResCap credit-default swaps “suggests that investors fear the parent company, and the bankers, may step away from the situation and allow ResCap to default,” Shanley said.

Credit rating pancakes… now a short stack…

Giuliani tried to upplay Judi’s influence on him–and got smacked. Jeri tried to upplay her influence on Fred–and also got smacked. But no one doubts the equal partnership of the Clintons.

The big question is: Will there be a Bush-Clinton fatigue playing in ‘08? Since 1988 it’s been those two dynasties, as it were. If Hillary goes to the WH that’ll be a 24-year (possibly 28-year) stretch.

Umm Bush 1 was also head of CIA, and VP under a Pres that could not remember much at the end. I don’t think Nancy was running things, though maybe her astrologer – I would say it was Bush I running things (with help from the Sith Lord et al).