Although they say that the economy is healthy, the administration also now says that we must stimulate it immediately with $150 billion. This is like your doctor saying you're healthy but adding, hey, since you're in the office, why don't I give you a shot of adrenalin right in the heart. To the trillions given away in the last tax cut, add the trillion dollars spent on Iraq, and you've got a mountain of unpaid expenses. Like a 'nightcap' after a night of binge drinking, another $150 billion won't make a huge difference either way.
Politicians in both parties are always happy to give away money. They only argue about who should get it. There is no reason to trust this administration to design a stimulus package that won't make things worse. The problem with any stimulus package, even one agreed upon by both parties, is that our current situation is a consequence of the 6 years of continuous, strong economic stimulus we've already had. Maybe any stimulus will only delay the inevitable day of reckoning.
Basic macro economics says the next step is inflation, maybe rampant inflation. Our advantage over third world economies is that our debt is denominated in our own currency. Inflation actually helps the debtor, so long as they can pay with inflated currency. Fortunately, the the new bankruptcy laws, which benefit the lenders, don't apply to us as a nation.
In a move to cut the fat and improve productivity, GM is offering many of its workers $140,000 to sever all ties.
Republicans controlled the White House, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court for 6 years. Instead of using this time in absolute control of Washington DC to implement the party's agenda, they have only proven the maxim 'power corrupts'. The party of small government instead presided over a record-setting growth in government. The party that urged isolation instead led America on the largest nation building efforts since the Marshall Plan. The party that warned against the growing national debt and preached the blessings of a balanced budget instead drove the budget from surplus to $500 billion annual shortfall and doubled the cumulative national debt. The party that claimed competence instead proved itself a miserable failure at management; the catatonic response to Katrina is a national disgrace, they institutionalized vote peddling to lobbyists , and their craven bumbling on the economy threatens the commonweal for generations to come. While their candidates debate how much fealty to pledge this failed administration to win the primaries, they fear the consequences in the general election. Even the most dedicated Republicans must wonder how their dreams have turned to dust.
Israel built a wall, over 400 miles long and up to 24 feet high, to protect Israeli settlements from angry Palestinians. This wall also separates Palestinian towns from one another, making normal commerce and community impossible. This is the Palestinians' “Wailing Wall”, a potent symbol of their oppression. The wall constitutes a major impediment to achieving lasting peace. 
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