President Barack Obama says he cannot "govern out of anger" just because of public outrage over bonuses paid at financial institutions kept afloat by taxpayer dollars. ...more

March 23, 2009

$1.8 trillion Estimated U.S. budget deficit for 2009, according to the Congressional Budget Office ...more

March 21, 2009

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will deploy an additional $1.2 trillion to try to lower interest rates and stimulate the economy, an aggressive move aimed at containing the recession. ...more

March 19, 2009

OK, I will be honest with you. In high school, I got a "C" in algebra. I admit I am not the sharpest tool in the math shed of life. However, I don't think I am the only American who is struggling with trying to get his mind around a $1 trillion national debt, much less a $3 trillion national debt. ...more

March 8, 2009

OK, I will be honest with you. In high school, I got a "C" in algebra. I admit I am not the sharpest tool in the math shed of life. However, I don't think I am the only American who is struggling with trying to get his mind around a $1 trillion national debt, much less a $3 trillion national debt. ...more

March 7, 2009

Most of us can't really conceive of just how much money a trillion dollars is. I know it's a "1" with 12 zeros after it, but it's hard to get a handle on how much space that much cash would take up. I keep thinking of those old comic books with Disney's Scrooge McDuck. He kept all his money in a vault that looked like a swimming pool full of dollars. My guess is even Scrooge McDuck didn't have that much cash in his vault. ...more

March 6, 2009

No, the headline above isn't asking you what you're doing. Instead, it is a question county officials are asking Pinellas residents as they decide how to deal with a projected revenue shortfall for the 2010 fiscal year. ...more

February 28, 2009

President Barack Obama laid out his first budget plan Thursday predicting a stunning federal deficit of $1.75 trillion this year - nearly four times last year's record - and asking Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy to stem that flood of red ink while still moving the country toward guaranteed health care for all. ...more

February 27, 2009

I started to write this over a month ago, but I observed something rather remarkable-foreboding. The Republicans-conservatives were rather blase in completely dismissing the eight-year record of doubling the $5 trillion national debt, while blasting President Obama and the Democrats on the nearly $800 billion stimulus bill. In addition they ignored the nearly $3 trillion bailout of the banks and Wall Street with hardly a whimper between September '08 and January, '09. ...more

February 27, 2009

It may seem like the country that used to make everything is on the brink of making nothing. ...more

February 27, 2009