Reports have it that housing is in the process of a rebound. Not big time, but far fewer losses, and gains in first time buyers Consumer spending also seems to be going up. No guarantees, of course, and there are some warnings about a double dip, but when a next slide downward might commence is anyone's guess. And there may not be another slide any time soon. In other words, if a recovery takes hold and most indicators are positive in October, the Democrats hold on to their majorities --even if the numbers are less than now. I'm not saying this because I want the Dems to do OK, since the opposite is the case, but to try and be realistic about what we can hope for. Especially since it is a sure bet that X number of Republicans will turn out to be idiots or crooks. But, yeah, at least there is reason to hope --even if no-one can expect more than some good things to emerge after November. Billy ---------------------------------------------------------------- In a message dated 4/22/2010 6:42:20 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
The Pew Research Poll has it 1 % lower at 22 % (Gallup had a low of 23 %), so "YES, WE CAN" have a lower trust in government. _http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704133804575198290459062592.h tml?mod=djemEditorialPage_h_ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704133804575198290459062592.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h) Their chart is at the above link, slightly different from Gallup, showing similar valleys at 1981, 1995, and now. Don't know what they were smoking during the Nixon years... Or, probably better, who the heck they've both been polling. David "Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine."--P. J. O’Rourke On 4/22/2010 1:55 AM, [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) wrote: Is it possible for the numbers to get any lower ? This is abysmal. Billt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- In a message dated 4/21/2010 9:59:55 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) writes: Well, with the Marx words, my knee is jerking again and I'm unlikely to see anything of value. I find his cure frightening at the very least. Trust in government hasn't been this low since Richard Nixon according to the graph on the page below. And somebody wants to give them MORE power? Out of touch is putting it mildly. _http://www.gallup.com/poll/110458/trust-government-remains-low.aspx_ (http://www.gallup.com/poll/110458/trust-government-remains-low.aspx) David "Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine."--P. J. O’Rourke On 4/21/2010 4:02 PM, Dr. Ernie Prabhakar wrote: Hi again, On Apr 21, 2010, at 1:46 PM, Dr. Ernie Prabhakar wrote: The Long Downturn | NewAmerica.net finally paying attention... Here's another version covering much the same ground, in the form of an interview. Brenner calls the crisis Marxian; don't know if that mean he is himself a Marxist, though the rest of the article would support that view. It would explain why most links on Google are of him being savaged by (other)? socialists.... _http://brechtforum.org/robert-p-brenner-crisis_ (http://brechtforum.org/robert-p-brenner-crisis) JEONG: Many assert that the current crisis is a typical 'Minsky crisis' not a Marxian one, arguing that that the financial speculation-bubble-bust has played the central role in this crisis. How would you respond? BRENNER: I don’t think it's helpful to counter-pose in that way the real and financial aspects of the crisis. As I emphasized, it is a Marxian crisis, in that it finds its roots in a long term fall and failure to recover of the rate of profit, which is the fundamental source of the extended slowdown of capital accumulation right into the present. He does at least offer one potential (admittedly dramatic) solution, though even he is ambivalent about it working: To have a significant effect on the economy, the Obama administration will likely have to contemplate a huge wave of direct or indirect government investment, in effect a form of state capitalism. To actually accomplish this however would require overcoming enormous political and economic obstacles. The U.S. political culture is enormously hostile to state enterprise. At the same time, the level of expenditure and state indebtedness that would be required could threaten the dollar. Until now, East Asian governments have been happy to fund US external and government deficits, in order to sustain U.S. consumption and their own exports. But, with the crisis overtaking even China, these governments may lose the capacity to finance U.S. deficits, especially as they grow to unprecedented size. The truly terrifying prospect of a run on the dollar looms in the background. Sobering stuff. I'd be tempted to admire him, but the only solution he seems to place faith in is Marxist revolution -- not a war of ideas, but of power: Thus there is a big opening for left ideas. The problem is that there is very little organization of working people, let alone, any political expression. So one can say there is this very big opportunity created by the change in the political environment, or the ideological climate, but that by itself is not going to provide a progressive outcome. So, again, the top priority for progressives--for any left activists--where they should be active is in trying to revive the organizations of working people. Without the re-creation of working class power, little progressive will be possible, and the only way to recreate that power is by way of mobilization for direct action. Only through working people taking action, collectively and en masse, will they be able to create the organization and amass the power necessary to provide the social basis, so to speak, for a transformation of their own consciousness, for political radicalization. Having better organized and radically conscious working people isn't going to magically make communism more efficient and less corrupt than it was in the Soviet Union. And maybe his Marxist bias is biasing his analysis and arguments. But darned if I know where... -- Ernie P. _______________________________________________ Centroids mailing list: [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) _http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com_ (http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com) Archives at _http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/_ (http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/) _______________________________________________ Centroids mailing list: [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) _http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com_ (http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com) Archives at _http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/_ (http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/) _______________________________________________ Centroids mailing list: [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) _http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com_ (http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com) Archives at _http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/_ (http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/) _______________________________________________ Centroids mailing list: [email protected] http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com Archives at http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/
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