Another platinum coin surge in the Second Wave rippled through the mainstream media yesterday and this time hit the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Domenico Mantanaro of MSNBC kicked things off on one of the morning shows by mentioning the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) as a possible solution to the debt ceiling problem. Then, in the afternoon, on MSNBC’s the cycle, Krystal Ball, and Steve Kornacke, in discussing the coming debt ceiling conflict talked rather matter-of-factly, I thought, about minting some TDCs to get around the debt ceiling.

Then Paul Krugman blogged about platinum coins. In the context of answering a question about whether we can “print money,” to get around the debt ceiling, he answers no, and then says…

Burning at the stake: the new science.

Today’s headlines feature the imploding Euro system, the misreading of the Super Committee’s failure to make the US economy worse, leadership changes in Spain, a mind numbing GOP discussion of religion and more.

In a column ominously titled, Euro Zone Death Trip, Paul Krugman laments the sad state of Euro nation deliberations over the fate of Greece (and Italy and Spain . . .), the Euro itself and the European economy. But he might as well have been talking about the sad state of US politics, because we’re having parts of the same argument here.

In the New York Times Economists Bowl, I call it Princeton 2, Harvard 0.

Krugman and the Firebaggers: Will they be asked to play the White House?

Compared to laying siege to government, hurting millions, and putting the economy at risk, it’s only a minor irritant, I suppose, one of the dozens of little misrepresentations that we are so used to hearing from the right wing that we just shrug our shoulders and wait for something new. But the fact the media almost never pushes back suggests that letting it slide is a mistake. And it’s just fractions!

Protecting banksters from the consequences of their fraud insures massive unemployment for the foreseeable future. The Government has alternatives, but it won’t put them into action. Obama raised $2.4 million dollars for his reelection campaign from Wall Street. No one goes to jail.

You can view Social Security accounting two ways: First, you can view it as a separate fund, in which case the Trust Fund surplus of $2.5 trillion is very relevant. Or you can view the issue from the perspective of the entire budget, and ask, “how much of the total is paid for by total incoming revenues?” But what you can’t do is mix the two; you can’t honestly switch between the two accounting perspectives just to make a political point about Social Security.

The state of Texas is a gargantuan right-wing policy laboratory, spewing noxious governing ideas across the country just like our refineries pollute the air. We’ve had a Republican governor since 1995 and the Republicans have controlled the both houses of our state legislature for the past decade — and recently won a super-majority in the House. The result? One of the highest poverty rates in the United States to go with a massive budget deficit.