Events

I've given up for the evening attempting to configure a recalcitrant firewall. To cheer up, I turn to Paul Krugman, who reminds us that a 0% Fed rate means we're in trouble: ZIRP! That's zero interest rate policy. And it has arrived. America has turned Japanese. This is the thing I’ve been afraid of ever since I realized that Japan really was in the dreaded, possibly mythical liquidity trap. ... Seriously, we are in very deep trouble. Getting out of this will require a lot of creativity, and maybe some...

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has started impeachment proceedings against Governor Blagojevich: Madigan, a veteran Southwest Side Chicago lawmaker and head of the Democratic Party of Illinois, announced the move against the state's first Democratic governor in more than a quarter century at a news conference at the State Capitol. "It is my intention to appoint a special committee to begin immediately an investigation into the governor's conduct in office and to undertake the preparatory work that...

People with a sense of history may find Nixon aide Dean's advice to the incoming president interesting: Because of my own personal experience with Watergate, the mother of modern presidential scandals, not to mention being a student of scandals that followed, I speak as someone who learned the hard way by making mistakes and then watched as others made their own similar and unnecessary blunders. ...[I]n the interest of the nation presidents (which would include presidents-elect) must openly and...

The best governor we have right now is so bad that convicted felons Dan Rostenkowski and George Ryan both felt moved to say something. And no one laughed at them. Wow. That says something.

Via James Fallows, a perfect holiday shopping idea from writer and Wait Wait! panelist, Roy Blount, Jr.: I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards. We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let's mount a...

The AP calls his approval rating "shockingly low," missing the obvious point that it's shockingly high. Who, really, are those 8%? And 8% of what, one has to wonder?

Holy {bleep}: Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan filed a motion with the Illinois Supreme Court today aimed at removing Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office. Such a motion is untested in the state's history. The case could determine whether the governor is fit to serve. Madigan will hold a news conference at 11:15 a.m at the state office complex in downtown Chicago. More details to come. Unprecedented. And (full disclosure) even though I've already contributed to Madigan's own campaign, I'm not sure this is the kind...

Our public debt has topped $10.6 trillion: Current Debt Held by the Public Intragovernmental Holdings Total Public Debt Outstanding 12/09/2008 6,410,734,685,101.64 4,245,384,542,301.41 10,656,119,227,403.05 But at current interest rates, it's like a license to print money!

President-elect Obama says Blagojevich must go: Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs says the president-elect agrees with other prominent politicians in Illinois and elsewhere that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois." In response to questions from The Associated Press, Gibbs said Obama believes the Illinois legislature should consider a special election to fill the seat. Gibbs says the hope is to put a process in place to...

Lots of speculation today whether Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is "Senate Candidate 5" from the Federal complaint against Gov. Blagojevich, but he was asked to "share some thoughts" with the FBI: Jackson said this morning he was contacted Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Chicago whom he said "asked me to come in and share with them my insights and thoughts about the selection process." Jackson said, "I don't know" when asked whether he was Candidate No. 5, but said he was told "I am not a target of...