The Regime Hasn't a Clue What to Do

The Housing Crisis and the Plague of Potomac Fever

As states move to crack down on predatory lending and abusive mortgage fees, Washington lawmakers tell reporters "it's irrelevant" how many — if any — homeowners are helped. As state legislators to demand serious aid to borrowers, Washington constructs a bailout for financial firms. This is the contrast between minimally healthy (though certainly imperfect) democratic systems in the states, and a federal government ravaged by Potomac Fever — the illness whereby professional politicians forget who they were elected to serve.

David Sirota, TomPaine.com

Surplus U.S. Food Supplies Dry Up

usatoday.com

U.S. government food surpluses — which had previously fed the poor at home and abroad — have evaporated because, with record high prices, farmers are selling their crops on the open market, not handing them over to the government through traditional price-support programs that make up for deficiencies in market price. The upshot: USDA has almost no extra food to supplement the billions in cash payments it spends to combat hunger at home and in developing nations.