As we wait to see if or when Europe suits up for another Middle Ages partisans on our shores watch it through the prism of this election year’s central economic debate: Can more public spending save an economy?
Opposing sides of this quarrel see very different reasons for Europe’s troubles.
“Austerity: savage spending cuts in an attempt to reassure bond markets. Yet as any sensible economist could have told you (and we did, we did), these cuts deepened the depression in Europe’s troubled economies, which both further undermined investor confidence and led to growing political instability.”
“Workers across the Continent want great lifestyles without long work hours. They want dynamic capitalism but also personal security. European welfare states go broke trying to deliver these impossibilities.”
“Re-makes and Re-hashes”
Terry Gilliam nails Hollywood (and beyond?). The film maker and former Monty Python member says it is tougher than ever to get studio backing for creative movies:
“The longer you keep churning out this production-line crap, the more audiences are going to like it—and need it. There’s an element of security provided by re-makes and re-hashes. We’re at the stage where audiences just want to know that everything will be the same. Maybe it’sbecause the world has become so diffused and unclear that people just want to go back to what they know over and over again. People need to reassure themselves that Spider-Man can still do the things he’s always done.” –The Economist
As the dedicated journalist that I am, equipped with the finest research tools and unnamed sources around, sometimes I get all of my information from the CNN news crawl – those tantalizing morsels that creep across the screen allowing us to turn the sound off.
Here’s one that caught my attention yesterday:
“Senate is debating five budgets that won’t pass”
News crawls are like tweets. They relieve us of complexity. And in this case, none is needed.
The Senate debating something that won’t happen is sort of what the rest of Washington has become, an exercise in futility – like trying to find a missing sock or watching for the pot to boil having forgotten to add water.
The deal with the Senate is that in an election year all they really want to do is argue, call each other names and repeat talking points their lobbyists wrote for them.
But to stage these smackdowns they have to pretend that pending legislation is on the table. So, all day yesterday they used phony budget bills that even some of the sponsors don’t intend to pass.
Give up the charade, senators. Just schedule arguing time – about nothing. Spare your staff the chore of writing up the bills and journalists the pointless task of reporting what’s in them.
Just wallow around the floor blaspheming and belching at one another. Leave the rest of us out of it.
If you ever do pass a budget, which hasn’t happened for three years, I’ll be looking for it on the news crawl.
I didn’t know the fine folks at Gallup had been measuring our happiness. But they say we’re getting happier — or at least not as unhappy as we once were. Score yourself with chart below.
Americans score better on all 10 of the Emotional Health Index measures in April than they did at the low point in September. The percentage of Americans who did not “worry a lot of the day yesterday” has improved the most. In April, 68.9% of Americans said they did not experience worry a lot of the previous day, up from 66.1% in September. Similarly, the percentage of Americans who said they did not experience stress was 59.9% in April, up from 57.6% in September. Self-reported “enjoyment” has also increased. The percentage who said they experienced enjoyment a lot of the previous day rose to 85.6% in April, up from the three-year low of 83.0% in September. — Gallup
Talking with Trail Mixer Dixie Dove, Diane Nine (alumni of Mitt Romney’s prep school) at 16:10, story time with Craig’s Mom at 35:40, and another report from Celebrity Guru DaveB at 38:54.
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Coming this weekend: Trail Mix Radio is back! Join the conversation. Call in. Topic: Gender Politics — Why do men prefer Republicans, women prefer Democrats? — And what’s the plus/minus for President Obama’s stance in favor of gay marriage?
Saturday, May 12
4:00-5:00 PM ET
Call (347) 838-8595
Note: This will be a taping for live posting Sunday.
Listen to past episodes of Trail Mix Radio
As a gay man who has lived with my soul mate for 25 years I am stunned to hear our President endorse same-sex marriage. I am ready to ask David Blank to marry me. I hope he will accept. If not, we share a jumbo mortgage, and that’s a legal bond way beyond a marriage certificate.
Photo by Dale Blank
Chatting with Don Imus about the Democratic Party’s “Blue Wall” Electoral College claims, Current TV, Keith Olbermann, and gay marriage (Fox Business, 5/8/2012)
RCP: Romney’s Path Is Not Necessarily Narrow
Barack Obama, the big-spending socialist? Hardly. As this chart shows, goverment grows more under Republicans.
source: New York Times
Craig on “Imus in the Morning“
Tuesday (5/8) 6:35 AM ET
Listen Live: WABC-AM (NYC)
TV Simulcast on Fox Business News
Ya gotta love YouTube for finding hidden talent. Here are a couple of kids doing a fine rendition of a favorite tune (file this under encouraging enthusiasm, the world might just have a chance with bright souls like these two around).
More at adityaaziz’s channel
And the Streisand/Garland version
In keeping with Trail Mix tradition we “run for the roses” (and grab our mint juleps) to celebrate the Kentucky Derby (post time Saturday 6:24 PM ET on NBC).
Yes, I picked “Optimizer” at 50-1 odds, I’m a risk taker (plus it’s my favorite feature on my Norton anti-virus software).
Thanks to Jamie for collecting our picks:
Pole Position/Horse/Jockey/Odds/Trailmixer Pick
01 Daddy Long Legs O’Donoghue 30/1 RR, OSH
02 Optimizer Court 50/1 Craig
03 Take Charge Indy Borel 15/1 Carol,Tony,Solar
04 Union Rags Leparoux 9/2 Jaslf
05 Dullahan Desormeaux 8/1 DaveB
06 Bodemeister Smith 4/1 Pogo
07 Rousing Sermon Lezcano 50/1 HW
08 Creative Cause Rosario 12/1 Patd, XR
09 Trinniberg Martinez 50/1
10 Daddy Nose Best Gomez 15-1 Jamie
11 Alpha Garcia 15-1 Flatus
12 Prospective Contreras 30/1
13 Went The Day Well Velazquez 20/1 George
14 Hansen Dominguez 10/1 Tylenol
15 Gemologist Castellano 6/1 MO, Jace
16 El Padrino Bejarano 20/1 Whiskey Jack, sturgeone
17 Done Talking Russell 50/1 KGC
18 Sabercat Nakatani 50/1 AP, Chris
19 I’ll Have Another Gutierrez 12/1 Lani
20 Liaison Garcia 50/1
Why The ‘Run For The Roses’ Is So Special
Also, Happy Cinco de Mayo
Crowd Favs
- A Senate About Nothing (66)
sjwny: This country was born out of revolution. Perhaps the time has come again to revolt against a government whose members choose to enrich themselves, instead of representing us and our future well being. I do not call for...
+9jace: Sjwny, Great post and well said. As for myself I prefer a healthy dose of symbolism attached to all my protests. Perhaps a guillotine set up on the capital steps and the occasional tumbrel parked in the limo. spaces?
+4Flatus: Watching our Senate debate _anything_ these days is like watching Bo Dietl on Imus. In this morning’s rerun, he managed to turn a debate about pocket patches matching neckties into a racist tirade about Middle...
+3
- The Big Government Debate: Once More with Feeling (68)
tylenol: Randy and I were sitting on the lawn last evening bemoaning the end of some of our favourite shows, some after long runs (House) others that only had a season’s chance to survive (Harry’s Law – a terrific...
+3craigcrawford: Best thing is you can cook a $10 3lb rump roast, like I am now, and it tastes like filet mignon (brown it quickly in hot oil first to seal juices). And of course surround with onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms,...
+3- +2
- A Senate About Nothing (66)
