KCRWs Left Right & Center 12/19/08

nobody@vox.com(Left, Right and Center) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:06:36 -0800

A wish for the world this holiday season. Peace to all and may our future be hopeful.

Auto Bailout; Madoff; Senator Caroline? More Obama-noms

Merry Christmas to all and Happy Chanukah, Kwanzaa and Chinese New Year. (Did I leave anything out?) President Bush decided to rescue the auto industry to the tune of $17.4 billion in loans. Bob says he punted the tough calls to Obama; Tony says what else could he do? Madoff made off with billions, and Bob agrees with Paul Krugman who said that these financial titans destroyed, not built, wealth. Tony defends capitalists against these charges. Will Caroline Kennedy be the next senator from NY? Should she be? What's this political aristocracy thing about? Matt thinks it's demoralizing. Tony says NY loves celebrity senators. Even if they're not qualified. Obama-noms are discussed. And by the way: have you heard there's a chance the White House bowling alley may be retooled as a basketball court??????

Sorry Arianna couldn't be here this week but we certainly want to hear from YOU!

MENTIONED ON TODAY'S SHOW
MATT'S BLOG!
mattmilleronline.com

New York Times Op-Ed Columnist
The Madoff Economy
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: December 19, 2008

The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.

Yet surely I’m not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Mr. Madoff’s tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?

Charles Krauthammer's syndicated column
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/272324

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KCRWs Left Right & Center 12/19/08