Jeebus

The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates by half-a-percent. But because the banks are not loaning to corporations, the Federal Reserve is going to start lending directly to corporations.

The British government is pumping money into its banks and taking an ownership stake in return.

John McCain is on the case, though. In a time where trillions of dollars are being lost by Americans from their retirement savings, when the Federal government is pumping hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial sector to free up the credit markets, when the Federal Reserve has to start loaning money directly to companies because banks won't, what is John McCain worried about?

A few billion dollars in earmarks. He was bashing Obama for an earmark that benefited the Adler Planetarium in Chicago (which I went to as a child and it was a really awe-inspiring place) by providing $3 million for its star projector. McCain called it "an overhead projector," which also speaks to McCain's ignorance of scientific issues.

Earmarks. Right now, earmarks are the equivalent of throwing a bucket of water into a raging river.

Probably worse for John McCain, earmarks also tend to create jobs and in a lousy economy, a job is a critical thing to have. If you are worried about being kicked out on the street because you can't pay your rent or you are wondering how you are going to feed your family, a job building a bridge nobody needs would sound pretty damn good.