"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons."
-- Emerson

By Friday of this week, the Senate Majority leader hopes to conclude debate on the financial reform bill. This bill has been pending for more than 3 weeks and major legislation is getting backed-up due to the valuable floor time it is consuming. Passing financial reform out of the Senate this week will  be a tough feat for the Senate Democrats, because more than 100 amendments remain to be considered.

"The Disappearing Black Middle Class" ran the headline over the Chicago Sun-Times story. And the statistics from the Economic Policy Institute were indeed sobering.

When governments want to encourage what they believe is beneficial behavior, they subsidize it. Sounds like good public policy.