The Whole Delivery

Photo form Reuters' Chris Usher Probably the only satisfying political news of the day : White House economic adviser Larry Summers is stepping down from his job at the end of the year, the administration said on Tuesday. The White House said Summers planned to return to his position as professor at Harvard University. I wonder if Liz Warren really pushed him out for good. He should have never been there in the first place of course, but such is the case with our dysfunctional government. Despite being wrong about virtually everything, his wonderful arrogant self will land somewhere nice and comfy.

It sure is a wonderful feeling for the Treasury and the FED to see the Department of Labor report about unemployment claims pass half a million and be the highest since last November . And you what their current plan is? To just keep on doing the same "fiddle with their thumbs" thing.

Photo from DPA It really isn't in already bad times, at all : The austerity measures that were supposed to fix Greece's problems are dragging down the country's economy. Stores are closing, tax revenues are falling and unemployment has hit an unbelievable 70 percent in some places. Frustrated workers are threatening to strike back. The feast of the Assumption of Mary on Aug. 15 is the high point of summer in the Greek Orthodox world. Here in one of the country's many churches, believers pray to the Virgin for mercy, with many of them falling to their knees. As Atrios summed it up...." It really is depressing. " But making it more of an embarrassment is that the US seems very comfortable heading right in that direction . Priorities!

They still have no shame from how they committed virtual grand larceny on the people of the nation: The U.S. economy will improve slowly and another round of fiscal stimulus probably wouldn’t be effective, former Treasury secretaries Paul O’Neill and Robert Rubin said. Rubin, who served under Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the U.S. is “going to have slow and bumpy growth,” an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” aired yesterday. A “major second stimulus” might create more uncertainty and undermine confidence, he said. Companies concerned about demand won’t expand facilities or hire new employees until sales have improved, said O’Neill, who was Treasury secretary under Republican President George W. Bush. “We are moving forward at a pretty gradual pace,” he said. “But I don’t think things are terrible.” Rachel Maddow has a series on her show about the nutcase party "Having No Shame", but that same must also be placed on our corporate overlords eager to work ...

The Democratic nominee laid out his economic plan today in Toledo, Ohio(or maybe not), the markets went up massively today, and the Asian markets are surging as Tuesday is in session on the other side of the world. If Congress does not act in the coming months, it will be one of the first things I do as President of the United States," Obama said. "This plan will help ease those anxieties, and along with the other economic policies I've proposed, it will begin to create new jobs, grow family incomes, and put us back on the path to prosperity." Obama then rolled out an argument about what we face ahead. "I won't pretend this will be easy or come without cost," he said. "We'll have to set priorities as never before, and stick to them." As many observers have noted, Obama faces a choice: Whether to strike optimistic tones about our future that might play well politically, or to address our future more realistically and hence make it easier t...