seen this one before?

Call me crazy, but I believe that we've previously witnessed this performance from the current Administration. More than anything else in the news, it's a smack in the head to remind us that deliberate and thoughtful action is required to address the current financial mess. Now, I know that I typically stay away from politics and too much stuff outside of racing on this blog, but where we go from here in the short term on this thing is so important to where go, period, that I've got to add the few words to the mix.

Part of the problem, of course, is that very few people actually know what the heck is going on, including elected officials, regulators and, sadly, the chief down 95 from me in the White House. Sure, that doesn't come as too much of a surprise, what with the bar now so low, but I don't take comfort in the fact that he's perfectly happy to run off and do T-ball games and fundraisers and leave former Goldman Sachs CEO, Hank Paulson, to run the country. Don't remember Hank the Tank getting elected President (heck, even Bush's claim to the office has a hole or two), so it's just not the way it's supposed to work.

To help shed some light on the affair, I recommend a few reads. Yes, maybe some of them are a touch partisan, but they still do a good job getting to the heart of what's what, and, collectively, suggest that, while bold action might be required to get us out of this mess, bold and stupid will only serve to get us deeper in the hole. Two pieces at The Nation are good. This one takes you through events that led us to where we are, and the role that John McCain played along the way. The second does a really good job of walking through options on the table and why the quick-fix proposals pushed by Bush and Co. might not be wise.

Finally, Paul Krugman's recent piece in The Times, as well as the Morgenson number from the weekend. Together with the other two, they might get you thinking, and that's a good start.