a little bit of a strange time

Today, im a little politically overwhelmed - not that its impeding my ability to absorb new information but more that i feel a little saturated with perspectives and am thus unable to offer any of my own. mostly because ive been inundated with so much press feedback and interpretation of both the bailout saga and the first debate that its a little difficult to express fresh opinions. so in this post, after a few direct thoughts, i'll attempt to highlight a few tangential, yet interesting pieces ive encountered in the last few days.

The Bailout
honestly, im not exactly sure how to react, since responses are all over the place. On one hand, I have come to believe that a bailout is probably necessary - I was roughly convinced of this by a very effective Planey Money podcast, which talked about two very interesting ideas: that the slowing of the economy validates ben bernanke's "financial accelerator" theory, and that the seriousness of the situation is reflected in money market funds "breaking the buck."

So, a bailout is probably helpful. But it has had detractors on two sides. House Republicans oppose what they view as the socialization of America, and Democrats such as Dennis Kucinich on Democracy Now articulated a disappointment with the lack of taxpayer and homeowner protection, bankruptcy protection, and ceo income capping. I might be way off here, but it sounds somewhat like Republicans don't want the government getting involved, and Democrats are annoyed that their involvement doesn't seem to be defending taxpayers as much as it should.

The Candidates
How did the candidates react to this? Well, John McCain returned to Washington last week, and attempted to co-opt the bailout proposal that emerged as evidence of his bipartisanship, despite the fact that a proposal had existed before he ever showed up (and temporarily collapsed on his arrival). All weekend, we heard how great John McCain was at bringing Republicans and Democrats together. Yesterday, we saw that that was horseshit, as House GOP members summarily rejected the proposal. So, naturally, after taking credit for encouraging bipartisanship, McCain would recognize his failure to successfully achieve it, right?

Not really - his only response to the failed bill was a hilarious statement in which he blamed Obama for Democratic partisanship. Wow. I loved the analogy (can't remember whose) that compared the hypocrisy of that statement to the guy who murdered his parents, then begged for clemency because "he was an orphan." So, McCain's an idiot, and lets not waste anymore time with that.

(EDIT: This morning, McCain released a statement echoing Obama's FDIC proposal below, so I'll back off of the 'idiot' comment. Of course, he'll probably take credit for this proposal, and I reserve the right to put 'idiot' right back out there when that happens.)

Obama, meanwhile, released a very smart suggestion yesterday, calling for the FDIC limit to be raised to $250,000 in order to protect small businesses. A measured, thoughtful, reasonable response. HOW IS THIS ELECTION CLOSE? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Anyways. The crisis of today raises parallels with the Great Depression and FDR's landmark New Deal legislation. So, should we be looking for Obama to be an FDR-type president? Here are some interesting articles. The first discusses the New Deal and its appropriateness in a modern context. The second discusses a call from progressive Democrats for resurrection of New Deal era legislation. The final one asks how Obama might implement some of FDR's policies. The truth is, though, you're probably not going to see much of this behavior. Obama isn't a proponent of government over-regulation. As has been discussed before, he's a University of Chicago style Democrat, believing largely in the power of markets. I think you will see an increase in government oversight and consumer protection, but other than that, don't expect to see the market in chains. (For the record, I think that this is probably a good thing. So do some dudes from Freakonomics, and they're very smart.)

I guess this stuff isn't as tangential as I thought. Alright, some random other thoughts:

1. Lay off of Bill Clinton, already! Look, Im pretty unashamed with my Clinton homerism, but honestly, why is it the end of the world that his endorsement of Obama is a pragmatic one? There are more than enough people with (justifiable) Obama crushes. I would think that a few people out on the trail whose endorsement seems more subtle and reasoned might play well with independent voters who are sick of over-the-top swooning over his candidacy. Plus, on Meet the Press, you could see him really passionate about his work with the Clinton Global Initiative as he promoted successes in Africa and railed against those who undermined local successes by refusing to look more closely than at the total 'African diaspora.' He's doing honest, important work, and we should cut him some slack.
2. Killer This American Life episode. Called 'Going Big', it talks about people who "take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts." Particularly inspiring is the first story on Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone. I can't wait for next week's piece on the economy.
3. Everyone listens to the Moth podcast, right? I realize not everyone can detach themselves from all social interaction and listen to as many podcasts as I do, but The Moth is once a week for 15 minutes, and is hilarious. Come on, people.
4. Baseball Playoffs!!!!!!! I really need to save this for a separate post, but my beloved Red Sox once again square off with the dreaded Angels! Will we send them to playoff oblivion as we have done en route to our last 2 World Series victories? Alot depends on the health of 3 of our best players: Josh Beckett, J.D. Drew, and Mike Lowell. Yeah. I need a separate post for this. Later.