Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

No credit where it isn’t due

The Washington Independent raises the question of why the presidential candidates are ignoring the credit crunch:

But, based on the contest so far, don’t look for either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain to take on the biggest, most troublesome economic problem facing many American families and financial institutions — the credit crunch.

Like the budget deficit and rising Medicare costs, the credit crunch seems to be well on its way to earning the honor of the Issue Candidates Want to Ignore.

There are a number of reasons for this, the story says, including its complicated nature and the connections between campaign money and policy:
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says he does not expect either side to raise the issue:

“The Republicans don’t have much to say, and it’s not high on their agenda. The Democrats aren’t much different. Obama’s taken a lot of money from Wall Street, and the Republicans are tied to those people too. There’s just a real reticence to get into this.”

And that is to our detriment. As William Poole, the former president of the St. Louise Federal Reserve, points out the longterm costs of the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are likely to be high.

In Poole’s view, the bailout could wind up with a tab as high as $300 billion, or $1,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. That should be enough to get people’s attention, he said. So might figuring out who to blame for the mess, with suspects on both sides failing to rein in the mortgage giants as the firms lobbied Congress during the past decade. Poole, however, is not optimistic the candidates will take the bait.

Without a discussion of the credit crunch, real solutions are unlikely, as are mechanisms likely to prevent future meltdowns.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Random thoughts on the Mets

The Mets are 81-63 with 18 games to go — which is somewhat remarkable when you consider the way this season has gone.

First, there was the collapse from last year — blowing a seven-game lead with 17 to go — and the hangover it created this year.

There was the turmoil surrounding Willie Randolph and the slow painful movement toward his firing.

And there have been injuries — four starting players, three starting pitchers, the closer and two important bench players have missed significant time.

But here they are, 18 games over .500 and 2 1/2 games up in the division.

***

Pedro Martinez has actually not pitched all that badly over the last month — except against the Phillies. In seven starts, he has tossed 41 1/3 innings and given up 21 earned runs — not exactly stellar stats. In two starts against the Phillies, however, he has thrown just nine innings and given up 11 earned runs compared to 32 1/3 innings and 10 earned runs in the other five games.

***

Carlos Delgado is third in the league in homeruns and fourth in runs batted in. Who would have thought that back in May.

***

Johan Santana is 5-0 since the all-star break and probably should have more wins. Mike Pelfrey is 5-3 and Oliver Perez is 4-2.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.