Maybe people read my blog after all

Apparently I'm not the only one who sees parallels between the build up to the invasion of Iraq and the sudden onset of deficit-phobia gripping the nation's elites.

The baffling thing about this is that it seems like most Democrats in congress and even the White House know that this is wrong, but there seems to be no will to do anything about it. I understand that the filibuster in the senate limits the actions the government can take, but surely there are ways around this like budget reconciliation. And even if there isn't, the President could at least be sounding the alarm. He's comfortable telling the Europeans why they're being stupid, he should do that same to the senate. At least before the Iraq War there were plenty of Democrats raising hell. Now the White House's position of doing nothing is the better alternative to the Republicans' plan to cut spending resulting in higher unemployment or the Germans' commitment to tight money, destroying the economies of several major countries in the European Union.

Think I'll just move to Argentina. They have cheap steak and booze and let gays get married down there.

Whores

I fail to see what was so awful about what Eliot Spitzer did while governor of New York. So he saw some high class proostitoots? BFD.

He decided to resign in order to spare his state the trouble, I suppose, and for that his name is always preceded by the adjective: "disgraced."

Our New Retarded Economic Consensus

So the western democracies need to get their fiscal houses in order to increase confidence in the bond markets so these countries can keep borrowing at low interest rates, even though interest rates are at historic lows now. Seems to me it would be irresponsible to not keep borrowing now in order to bring the economy to a stage of robust growth and to maybe give some people some jobs. Furthermore, I'm not sure why it's become conventional wisdom that sky-high unemployment caused by a double-dip recession brought on by premature fiscal austerity is going to fill bond markets with confidence.

I feel now about the same way I felt on the run up to the Iraq War. I haven't felt very bloggy lately because it seems that the Great Minds of our society have all gone batshit-crazy, and even my mighty blog posts are powerless to turn the tide.

My greatest hope is that the midterms, whatever happens, will let some of the steam out and the Very Serious People will realize that 10% is not something the country just has to "live with for a while."

But I'm not optimistic.

They have a Wendy's

CNNMoney decided it would make a listicle about the 100 BEST PLACES TO LIVE 2010!...whatever that means. I perused the list and found it to be the usual mix of boring small towns and strip mall banality, but what caught my attention is that Missouri City, TX made the list...at 21!

I'm so old I remember when Mo' City was just a shitty hellhole wedged between Houston and Sugar Land. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against hellholes, in fact I often prefer them, but Missouri City combines the worst attributes of suburbia and southwest Houston. Apparently now this is what communities should strive to become.