Battered Wall o Bunkum

Dean Baker and his crew do a nice job of exposing the inefficiencies of the US economic model on its own terms. The central index of its alleged superiority to "social capitalism" in Europe was a lower unemployment rate. Past and present measures of this take a useful hit in this helpful piece.

For a parallel debunking of Arnoldo-nomics in California, monstrous offspring of Prop 13, see Michael Hilzik in the LA Times.

Hilzik's most important point is not about the self-inflicted Republican train wreck but about it's non-necessity: "The truth is that real solutions to the budget crisis are obvious."

For an overview of Hooverization across the states, see this Wash Post piece from last week.