Quotes of the day

Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.--James Madison

The really distressing part is what this tax will do to the corporations that we now own and are supposedly trying to save. (Remember? That's the reason we bailed Citigroup, AIG, GM, and the rest of them out--to save them. Because we convinced ourselves that civilization would end if we didn't.) Thanks to our stupidity bailouts, we now own major stakes in these firms (at mind-boggling expense). So it's not clear why we want to destroy them. But that's what we seem determined to do.--Henry Blodget

President Obama, Congress and our friends at Treasury, you can't have it both ways. Either you are making investments and letting the private sector decide what to do with it or you are taking control and restructuring troubled businesses. By choosing a middle-of-the-road strategy, you have guaranteed failure.--Roger Ehrenberg

This [bonus tax] bill is much, much worse than that. It is mob rule. It is an abdication of the duty of Congress to legislate thoughtfully and with due process. And it is an act of cowardice in which what is right or wrong means nothing and what is expedient means everything.--Evan Newmark

But yesterday there seemed to be little irony when Congressman and bill sponsor Charlie Rangel accused Wall Street of single-handedly destroying America. “These people are getting away with murder. They’re getting paid for the destruction they caused to our communities.” It’s an odd accusation. Rangel’s district — like all of New York City — has been living off of Wall Street’s bonuses and tax revenues for years. I should know. Rangel, a long-time beneficiary of rent-subsidized housing, is my Congressman--Evan Newmark

I also note, just as an aside, that [journalist David Leonhardt's] definition of "very rich" seems increasingly to be set at "just above the level a top-notch journalist in a two-earner couple could be expected to pull down".--Megan McArdle

Consistent with that lack of understanding of moral hazard, in laying out, fairly well, actually, how AIG got in a heap of trouble, Obama never said a word about the fact one reason AIG could take such risks is that politicians like Obama and McCain would bail them out if things went bad.--David Henderson

[My bowling score of 129 is] like the Special Olympics or something--President Obama

[President Obama] can't beat me--Kolan McConiughey, a Special Olympics competitor who has bowled three perfect 300 games

Frankly, I am disgusted and saddened. And I will be sending a donation to the local Special Olympics people today. All of the howls about how Bush couldn’t form a sentence ring pretty hollow when you hear things like this. I can only assume there is more to come.--Dan from Madison