Raines : The Devil is in the Details

First a little humor… Remember when banks used to offer little “perks” or teaser gifts if you opened a new savings or checking account with them? Today a friend sent me a “Super Saver” coupon supposedly from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It features four toasters for $19.99 each. But wait! With each toaster purchase, you get a coupon for a free bank. Some of the coupons are for Bear Stearns, Countrywide, and Freddie Mac, you get the idea. Limit one per customer.

Seriously, though, it seems that the White House,Democrats, and Republicans have finally realized what most of us already knew – that the housing crisis is what most Americans think is our most pressing economic problem and we should fix it right away. This is encouraging news. Now, if we could just get them to agree on how to do this it would be great.

Raines : Funny Money

Last week we were talking about the “Big Three” auto bailout. Since then, it appears that congress is balking at giving Chrysler and GM $15 billion as a “bridge loan” so they can avoid bankruptcy for a few weeks or months. The senate refused to pass the bill, then the Bush White House said they were going to furnish some sort of aid. So far, they have failed to do so. Could it be that they are coming around to “Country Boy Logic”?

Raines : I told you so…

A Liberal’s View Point
by Mike Raines
Email : raines@nencnews.com
     Most stories like this start off with some variation of “I hate to say I told you so, BUT…” I suppose I’m no exception, but I want to assure you that the reason I hate it is I wish we could have prevented it. Well, guess [...]

Raines : Broken Government

Last week I shared that while I was researching the “Separation Of Powers” doctrine that is one of the underpinnings of our government, I discovered that John Dean has written books titled “Bush-Cheney Presidency: Worse Than Watergate” and “Conservatives without Conscience“. (John Dean was White House Counsel to Richard Nixon.) You may recall that last weeks article dealt with the three branches of government and how the Bush/Cheney presidency has been warping their protective boundaries. If you missed it you can find it and all past articles at: http://liberalviewpoint.home.mchsi.com/home.html. This week I went online to Amazon.com, a convenient, cheap way to buy books, and found his latest book, “Broken Government”, $29.95, Viking Press, 2007. The subtitle is “How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches”. I was shocked – here was a prominent Republican saying almost the same things I had just written about. I immediately ordered it second-day shipping.