The Exquisite Contrarian

Who says the taxpayers can’t make some money on this TARP thing?  The feds definitely don’t. Too bad it’s not $8 trillion we’re getting back.

Relentless attacks against al-Qaeda in the Pakistan tribal region appear to have driven Osama bin Laden and other top leaders deeper into hiding, leaving the organization rudderless and less capable of planning sophisticated operations, CIA Director Leon Panetta said Wednesday. More at Al-Qaeda crippled as leaders stay in hiding, CIA chief says – washingtonpost.com.

The Christian Science Monitor chimes in with an opinion as to why US healthcare so expensive today, and their answer goes like this: Those on the economic left [in England and the US] simply don’t want to admit it. It is, in fact, the same problem we have with healthcare in our country: People don’t pay [...]

Jim Jubak presents the case that just like any government, including the US — and perhaps more than most — China probably runs its balance sheet through “budget magicians” who don’t want to show you that “China is indeed broke.” More: New evidence indicates China may be Bankrupt / The Christian Science Monitor.

Isn’t this like Jack Daniels offering Betty Ford assistance? More here.

President Dmitry Medvedev promised Monday that heads would roll after Russia suffered its worst-ever performance at the Winter Olympics, warning “fat cat” sports officials to quit or be fired. Heads to Roll Over Poor Olympic Results.

The conversation on the street centers around a strong division between the left and right in America right now.  I’d contend we’re potentially more fragmented than ever but not polarized as the news and the political parties would lead us to believe, and issues like individual freedoms including states’ rights and the right to gun [...]

From McCain: GOP willing to negotiate on health care | The Daily Caller – Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment: McCain said “we want to negotiate and we want to get something done, but the majority of American people say we want you to start over.” Of course “the American people” McCain’s referring to are saying [...]

Just when you thought we were past allowing the financial sector to develop risky, economy destroying derivatives the American financial industry is back at it once again: “Amid that uncertain state, Wall Street is chugging along as if the last few years were merely a blip. At Citigroup Inc., the financial innovators are readying a [...]

Hank Paulson, the former US Treasury Secretary, has apologised for saying the “British screwed” the US in failing to save Lehman Brothers at the height of the financial crisis. Strong words from the man in charge of pulling the American (and some would say world) financial industry from the brink: more.