That’s the question that readers are undoubtedly asking after seeing this piece on President Obama’s budget proposals. The piece featured three separate cites from Maya MacGuineas, who is the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. (One cite included unnamed “others.”) The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has received substantial funding from Peterson and his foundation over the years.

Do they all become pod people when they go to DeeCee or is there just something about being an elected official that turns once (possibly) reasonable people into the worst type of concern troll (definition 2)?

So, I guess it has been a rather eventful week in the world economy and the lives of the Beltway Village Idiots Politicians, Pundits, and Courtiers. I’ll let Paul Krugman and Jane Hamsher do the honors of eviscerating the Standard & Poor downgrade of the US credit rating but do want to add my 2¢ in agreement that supposed neutral arbiters who sold their souls and “independent analysis” for the banksters crappy mortgage based securities should be well advised to STFU rather than interject themselves politically.

For a successful economic theory, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. Richard Feynman on the Challenger disaster, slightly amended.

Our system is crumbling, but no one notices, at least, no one who could do something about it.

When I was a kid, I used to love double-dips. I’d go to the doctor and afterwards, we’d stop by the drug store soda fountain for my free ice cream. Summers, there would be all the ice cream suppers at the churches with fresh home made ice cream and cake. Double-dips of chocolate ice cream and cake!

Unfortunately however, today’s double-dip will be a recession.

The Initial Unemployment Claims report for last week is out and guess what? The Economists are surprised. And water is wet and the sky is blue.

Back in January of 2009, I wrote a diary titled I Am Unemployed but Not a Statistic. I was thinking about that diary this morning. With all the discussion of statistics, unemployment rates, jobs created or unemployment claims filed, there is a human being somewhere who is affected. I started Just A Small Town Country Boy as an attempt to put a human face on just one of those people (myself) who sits behind the statistic. But as we all know, I am just one voice among the millions.

We are silent in that we do not have the resources to hire battalions of lobbyists to offer bribes campaign contributions that would allow us to gain a voice inside the beltway.

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