The latest long term budget projections from the Congressional Budget Office assume that unemployment will be very high for years to come.

File this under “Who could have predicted?” President Obama’s White House Chief of Staff, William Daley, told the nation he didn’t think it was appropriate for a President to recommend criminal prosecutions for the banksters whose reckless behavior and massive fraud brought down the entire financial system, looted their own companies, defrauded thousands of investors and who are still engaging in fraudulent manipulation of the mortgage/foreclosure system.

There are a plethora of books written, and yet to be written, about what lead up to the 2008 financial crisis, but even so, All the Devils are Here stands out. Co-authors, Bethany McLean (co-author of the bestselling, documentary-inspiring book on the Enron scandal, The Smartest Guys in the Room) and Joe Nocera (Award winning New York Times business columnist), expertly weave a narrative that captures not just the elements, but the characters of the crisis; the human flaws, choices and repercussions perpetrated by a small, dispersed collection of very dangerous people.

Now we see one of the reasons the Senate is including student loans in reconciliation — they don’t want to tax rich people (as the House does), so they’re stealing the money from community colleges.

The most economically vulnerable are having their futures hacked away to pay AHIP a 20% fee for doing nothing in the health care process. And Ben Nelson hasn’t even begun shaking the bill down for Nelnet, JP Morgan and Citigroup.

Sign the petition — tell the Senate to take care of students, not banks.

The WSJ confirms what we’ve all probably suspected: the creditors that are forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy are the same banks that have been surviving only with the help of the federal government. And of course, they are refusing to offer the same generosity to Chrysler.

The Fed can’t bail out the economy this time. Meanwhile it’s privatize the Profits, socialize the losses time.