Role of government

Does the fact that the Treasury Department still has a significant stake in GM stigmatize the company? Give it a negative “Government Motors” reputation among investors or consumers? There’s lot of chatter but little evidence. And analysts say that the company’s reputation hinges more on it’s product line-up and profit outlook.

A recent CBO report on the long-term budget outlook has reheated deficit hysteria. But the points of fiscal stress the CBO highlighted were misleading, its alternative budget scenarios lacked range or nuance, and its treatment of "excess" growth in health care costs cavalier.

With LSC funding effectively 70 percent lower than it was in 1981, the program is unable to meet critical needs of lower-income families.

Two recent NYT articles ignore altogether the need for a critical approach. In one, a front-pager billed as a news article, the reporter could easily be mistaken for a member of BlackRock's PR team. In the other, the reporter treated with contempt the idea that workers deserve to have bargained-for pensions benefits honored.

Historical failure to achieve regional cooperation hastened, intensified city's decline. Experts suggest that city and entire region could have prospered through partnership.