Obama Leads Right Wing Takeover

To understand the current mood of the country, all you have to do is visualize a two-column headline:

7 People for Every Job Opening: 16 million People Out of Work

Wall Street to Dole Out $142 Billion in Bonuses This January

I love the way the media categorizes genuine dismay at the gross injustice shown by these two headlines as simply requiring politicians to tamp down populist rage, as though there were no good reason for it. Ergo, if there's no good reason, there's no good solution.

Jason DeParle is a great New York Times reporter. He often writes about ordinary Americans and their needs, something which seems to be considered "far-left" in current political ideology.

Today his article reports that nearly 1 in 5 Americans reported that they lacked the money to buy food at some point in 2009:

More than 38 million Americans--one in eight--now receive food stamps, a record high.

While Obama plays around with deficit-reduction tactics to show he's Republican-lite, people are starving.