Our burgeoning economy: March 2009 Archives

Sunday's column has to do with the wildly entertaining House Financial Services Committee hearing on the bailout.

I know, it doesn't sound funny. But check it out.

First, we have Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.

Read the Los Angeles Times story about Waters' lobbying for a bank that has her husband on its board of directors here.

And then, Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican.

Democracy in action!

Here is a New York Times story about the currency thing Bachmann was talking about. It doesn't really have to do with a world currency replacing the dollar. It's a little more complicated than that. And still, Geithner is not in favor of it.

Also, props to the snarky political blog Wonkette for its coverage of the hearing.

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert nails it.

He wrote:

"Working families were in deep trouble long before this megarecession hit. But too many of the public officials who should have been looking out for the middle class and the poor were part of the reckless and shockingly shortsighted alliance of conservatives and corporate leaders that rigged the economy in favor of the rich and ultimately brought it down completely.

"As Jared Bernstein, now the chief economic adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden, wrote in the preface to his book, 'Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries)':

"'Economics has been hijacked by the rich and powerful, and it has been forged into a tool that is being used against the rest of us.'"

Read it here.

In this clip, Jon Stewart dissects CNBC's coverage the financial meltdown.

Brilliant.

It has long bothered me that that Cramer guy is still on the air, after all of the lousy advice he's given. He was telling people to buy Lehman Brothers right up until the day Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Also, CNBC's breathless business coverage and ego-stroking interviews with CEO's does nothing to help people understand the most devastating economy since the Great Depression.

Once again, it takes Jon Stewart, a comedian, to show how ridiculous the media can be.