"Here, drink this", sayeth the Conservative while offering the country the old 6 parts tax break for the wealthy and 5 parts deregulation cocktail, "it'll help you feel better."

"That's what made me sick. That's why I'm dying!" Protests from the US economy.

"You don't understand", explains the Conservative, "you just didn't have enough of it. Trust me."

"I did trust you, and here I am. Weak, feeble, unable to take care of myself."

"I don't like to say this", says the Conservative, "but it's your own fault. You didn't trust me enough. It takes time. Now let's get busy with those tax breaks and perish the thought of regulation."

Kind of reminds one of the old barber shop bleedings. "Hey, you have another pint in there, let's go get it. You'll feel better." From oxygen deprivation, but what the hell.

"Geithner is realistically pessimistic about the economic crisis while the rest of Washington—even President Obama—hasn't caught on to how bad it is yet. From the rhetoric surrounding the stimulus bill, you'd think the American economy is already stabilized, able to breathe on its own, and ready to get up and start walking."

"Geithner struck a different tone in his speech. The patient he diagnosed is nowhere near ready for ambulatory care or physical therapy. Rather, it's struggling to breathe without life support. Worse, it is still in danger of infecting the whole hospital. The financial sector, pro-cyclical on the way up—easy money begat more easy money—is also pro-cyclical on the way down. "Instead of catalyzing recovery, the financial system is working against recovery," he noted."

At one time "capitalists" wanted to make money through investing. Now they want it straight from the ol' government. Which is socialism.

Arf