I finally realized I could add my songs to the site. Here’s John Hiatt and Ry Cooder with “Don’t Think About Her (While You’re Trying to Drive)”, from the infamous Little Village recording.

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This album came out in, I think, 1998, but it’s still great. Shelby Lynne:

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Midnight Oil:

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These people need to be strung up. Really. Bob Rubin, the root of all evil, says we need to REDUCE THE DEFICIT and the last thing we should do is additional stimulus!!!

You know why? Because people like Bob Rubin and his friends are doing just great:

Bob Rubin, the former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary and routine foil for many progressive-minded economists, argued on Sunday against a second “major” stimulus to revive the economy.

Appearing on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” Rubin said that the president would better be served focusing his efforts on the task of long-term deficit reduction.

“I wouldn’t do a major second stimulus because I think…we run a risk that it could be counterproductive in creating a lot of additional uncertainty and undermining confidence,” Rubin said. “But at the same time — and what I’m about to say is easy to say and very hard to do — at the same time I would try over the next six months to put in place a very serious beginning of deficit reduction that would take effect at some specified time in the future. And I would guess something like two years. So it wouldn’t take effect right now, when the economy is still so vulnerable, but if you could do it and it was credible and people believed it and it was real, I think that could do a lot for confidence. The problem is that’s very easy to say and very hard to do.”

Praised for shepherding lengthy economic growth during the Clinton years only to be bemoaned, in retrospect, for ushering in the era of deregulation that contributed to the current crisis, Rubin has been a relatively quiet voice during the Obama administration. His main impact on economic policy has been through the various disciples that he has working in key administration posts. His pushback against a second major stimulus effort doesn’t necessarily have practical political impacts. But it’s a viewpoint that is shared by those figures who actually affect the president’s decisions.

Politics, of course, makes the debate over stimulus rather limited. Even if the White House wanted a major new spending package, Congress wouldn’t write the check. Being a high-profile Democratic-affiliated figure, however, Rubin’s comments hurt those arguing the case that more stimulus spending is needed.

Are we supposed to be surprised that a high-ranking member of the oligarchy wants to punish the rest of us?

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Who’d a thunk it, that I’d ever say wingnut Ted Olsen was my hero?

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Remember how the politicians solemnly explained to us we couldn’t prevent Wall St. bonuses in the wake of the bailout “because a contract is a contract”?

They meant to say “except if you’re a government worker and we promised you a pension.” Clear now?

Oh, and by the way: Are we seeing any politicians clamoring to cut into their own retirement largesse?

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Russia burning. Pakistan, China, Europe are flooding. Huge chunks of icebergs breaking off, oysters disappearing. Hmm. Is there a common thread here?

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Historian and journalist Tony Judt, 62. Notable for his leadership and courage in talking about the Israel lobby and, despite his ALS, continued to publish until shortly before his death.

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This has appeared in so many places in the past week or so that I assumed you all saw it, but maybe not:

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From The Guardian:

“These absurdly rich people do not deserve admiration. They are spending half their fortunes buying themselves pleasure and influence. If the Gateses, von Furstenbergs and Bloombergs want top ranking in the pantheon of benefactors they have to give away something really important. How about giving the poor the chance to decide the fate of the wealthy? How about delegates from the poorest 100 countries deciding how much of the world’s wealth they want to allocate to software developers, dress designers, film producers etc and how much to eradicating poverty?”

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