George Will cited a statistic last Sunday of how ten years ago Americans were saving nine cents on the dollar. Five years ago it was a nickel on the dollar. And last year it was a NEGATIVE two cents on the dollar.
And yet here we have the GOP pom pom boy once again insisting the everyone put on a happy face and go out to dinner and remodel their bathrooms.
McKinnon trying to be one of the "real folk" is like a recovering alcoholic putting on the lampshade and making an ass out of himself desperately trying to prove he can still 'get down'.
Your bosom pal W. tried to pose as a populist, as you so pathetically are trying to do here. If a joke gets no laughs the first time, it takes a real idiot to retell it.

I wouldn't usually keep making all these first posts, but it might as well be me before MarineLtCol or Banjo1 gets in here and queers it all up.

My List!

I want Evangelical Christian Preachers to give up their wealth and live among the lepers as Jesus did, and stop trying to influence elections.

I want the wealthy to be taxed severely so we never have another dynasty like the Bushes or Kennedys. This isn't a monarchy.

And finally I want America to decide who it really is: either we like being militant and taking over other countries or we don't. If you like financing rebels all over the world so we can get cheap oil, expect more attacks. If we actually want peace, we need to leave the hundreds of countries we occupy. I don't know any American who would tolerate a Cuban base in America, yet we have one in Cuba! We nuked Japan and still have bases there! We need to decide. I am all for empire, but let's call it what it is.

Does Mr. McKinnon's "serious and substantive policy analyst" brother really think the cure to America's economic ailments is for its cash-strapped and indebted-up-to-their ears citizens to go out to dinner more? To buy more books? To remodel their bathrooms? Isn't it exactly this kind of thinking that got us into this mess in the first place? I suggest George McKinnon add another couple of points to his 'list': live within your means, save for a rainy day, don't buy stupid stuff you don't need.

Geez guys. Do y'all set an alarm to respond to McKinnon's posts? Offer something better rather than nit-pick at old alliances with worn out anger. I suspect Mark does not read these responses - mine or yours - and so you're really just talking to me and to yourself. Chris makes a lot of sense. I've been through enough maddening recessions to know that the solution is often natural and not man made so I see no issue with a little optimism or actions that can bring a body some satisfaction of trying something... anything.

xbainx: ". . . queers it all up."

Careful, xbainx, you're getting dangerously close to self revelation. Once people understand that, your opinions on any subject become as predictable as sunrise and sunset.

Mr. McKinnon,

Your crutching around on this "real people in the real world" horsehockey is as tired as Bobby Jindal's "government is always the problem and there's nothing we can't fix with tax cuts" schtick. "Real people" are living in the "real world" all over the country - NOT just in some idealized fantasy GOP-campaign-prop version of "The Heartland", thank you very little.

I've often enjoyed your perspective, even when I don't agree with you, but this shallow, petty, obviously baseless crap about how city folk and "coasties" suck is, frankly, beneath you.

Or, at least I THOUGHT it was.

Your brother's list is OK by me. I'd add that we stop taking cheap shots indiscriminately objectifying demographic groups in an attempt to "score political points" or further our arguments.

@xbainx:

Word.

Every single one.

tmhod...we read McKinnon because we know him, or knew him, and are offended by this born-again "up with people" persona he is selling nowadays. This is a guy who was portrayed in a Talk magazine article years ago as someone "who would stab his brother in the back" for a political edge.There is nothing more revolting than a reformed schmuck rightously channeling Norman Vincent Peale and Kathie Lee Gifford.
McKinnnon got his fame, and thus this pulpit, ostensibly because of his skill at "packaging". And now he is lamely repackaging himself as the voice of "positiveness".
I heard a radio commentator the other day refer to Jindel as "Mr. Rogers on acid". This "new" McKinnon is like Richard Simmons on mushrooms.
And by the way, your certain assertion that McKinnon doesn't bother to read posts or responses to his pep talks really proves my point. Someone given a national forum who is completely uninterested in feedback is the very definition of an elitist azzhole. The stylized fraud should just retire to his true calling as a motivational speaker at country clubs.

Leary7:

I will not get into a debate with you regarding MM. My clear head provides too much of an advantage. Why not just listen to what he says and comment on his message rather than find instant fault based on old prejudices. People change and see the world a bit differently as they grow older. Some get more liberal (me) and others more conservative (Dennis Miller). Though I know my views are not the same as 15 years ago, I do remember I had an issue with know-it-alls then, too.

OK list makers, I've got one, too.

OK, so I do have a list:

* I want Hollywood and the other pop culture institutions to stop glorifying having children out-of-wedlock

* I want MSNBC to get better ratings so that I know the other side is getting it's message out and people are not led by the nose via conservative talk. Too much of any one thing is not good.

* I want our Congress to put America's needs before it's own reelection concerns. Sometimes the other guys have a good idea. Admit it.

* I want drug users sent to rehab and gun users sent to prison. The drug sellers can go to hell.

* I want a meritocracy in the public school system and a way to punish the parents who offer no disciple and structure at home. See bullet #1.

* Collect the taxes owed. I think the corporate thieves we see on the news are still pretty rare, but the semi-legal tax dodgers, both corporate and individual should pay the same percentage as the honest guys.

* Use religion as a means to learn how to live a good life and a vehicle to help the underprivileged. I can find a passage in the bible that can be interpreted to mean control/alt./delete is devil worship. Pseudo-priests who spin the good book to their politics should be shouted down.

You know what guys - McKinnon is right. Most people who you see on TV & who write our laws & policies are out of touch with the "heartland" or "real America." Trust me - I've lived in DC and had the refreshing experience of moving back home and being around people who stick to their values, take care of their families, work hard for their money, and think the government and news personalities are one step away from crazy.

McKinnon's brother is correct. People outside of the beltway look at the spectacle inside the beltway often in disgust. They want to trust the leaders they elected. They want politicians to argue over substance & enact sound legislation. They wish that big city people weren't so greedy and selfish. They don't mind paying their share of taxes - but want their money to be spent wisely, not on Pelosi's latest scheme. They expect their children to be able to live in a great, secure & safe country ... and will work hard to ensure that they leave that for their children.

Those values are not the values I saw in DC.

And for the record - not every person in America spent every dime they had. The fiscally conservative may have lost their hind in the stock market, but they have saved well. Not everyone was saving -2 cents to the dollar. I know I wasn't. I live within my means & don't take my situation for granted.

Perhaps those are the people he is talking to when he says we need to be the stimulus.

Government is far too often the problem, not the answer.

I add my voice as one who completely agrees with the list of "what citizens really want". And as everyday actionable items by us all, they are most certainly hard to achieve and easy to blow. This is not a new thought, but I add it to the chorus: How are we ever going to make a dent in attaining peace and expanding prosperity either at home or abroad if we can not even be civil with one another anonymously on message boards????

Note to Mark McKinnon - you have some serious balls to write a piece like this after your participation in the incompetence/malfeasance that brought us to where we are today. Offering suggestions for American's to go spend money they very clearly don't have is a slap in the face and you should be disgusted.

Note to progressives leaving comments. Don't respond to the wingnuts who are attracted like flies to crap like this. Remember, there's such a fine line between being stupid and clever.

So you have a clearer head and I am a know-it-all. You've managed to combine sanctimony and school-yard name calling in the same post. Bravo.
And I do read what McKinnon says. I don't have a personal ax with him, I just loathe what he represents and is selling. It isn't just historical revisionism, it is a cult-like Big Lie. It started on election night when the GWB head cheerleader went on ABC insisting the Obama's victory was in NO WAY a referendum on Bush. I mean seriously....you don't have to be liberal or conservative, smart or dumb, from the coast or the midwest to realize that statement is one of the most absurd and idiotic political statements ever uttered. I was dumbfounded when neither Stepanopolous or Diane Sawyer called him on it. But that is what McKinnon does...he is a glib charming spinmeister.
I don't hate McKinnon, I just hate the arrogant Big Lie spins he is a master of. And this "happyface/lets all go out to dinner and sing Kumbaya together" spiel he is selling nowadays is just so freakin moronic if seems a parody.
But by all means, take your clearer head and go out for lobster with him. That will fix our economy.

All SEC investigators should be required to take auditing, accounting theory, and the applicable prerequisites.

All sec investigators and their fellow class mates should get food vouchers so their studies are more enjoyable for them.

Actually brainstorming is supposed to include all ideas, then a person is supposed to weigh the pluses with the negatives.

How did Madoff think of doing such a Ponzi scheme in the first place. Any normal person would have assumed they would have got caught years ago. As we know now he wasn't. So his stupid idea actually worked for a long time.

So making money shouldn't be the only purpose of an idea. Considering the public good etc, should always be in the equation. Ain't that a stupid idea.

Banjo! Tell me where you live and I'll come rape the hell out of you prison style! I give you change you can believe in. Yes we can!

This is what I've been trying to tell you. The real world is out here in flyoverland. Ignore us at your peril. We are slow to anger and many still turn the other cheek. But, cross the line and you will learn not to do it again. The broom that will sweep the crooks out of Washington is sitting in a kitchen in flyoverland.

Mark, are you like one of those weasels that changes sides when he realizes that his team is losing? Did it occur to you that your old team might be wise to you?

On December 20, 2006, George Bush held a press conference to discuss the coming year (2007). He basically fumbled and fibbed his way through foreign policy matters, then talked about the economy. At that time, the end of '06, virtually every decent economist worth their salt was saying a recession was looming. The only people who were not saying so were Bush and the Republicans At that presser, Fearless Leader said this:

"As we work with Congress in the coming year to chart a new course in Iraq and strengthen our military to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must also work together to achieve important goals for the American people here at home. This work begins with keeping our economy growing. And I encourage you all to go shopping more."

The past is prologue, as they say, and now you're selling the same bill of goods. But the game's over, Mark. We're aware of the score, and a new president is in the process of reorienting priorities in an effort to get us out of the ditch W drove us into, at home and abroad.

This is rather shabby work you're turning in here, Marcus. Then again, you do write in this piece that you're a "shallow media guy tossing off trite and meaningless soundbites."

At least I can say I appreciate your honesty!

Alright, so "spend more" is what Mark thinks those "comfortable" middle-class Americans should do.

What are his recommendations if you're not "comfortable?" If you've lost your job and your healthcare and are behind on mortgage payments so it's looking like you'll loose your house? What does Mark recommend you do then?

As goes the middle class, so goes the rest of the country. The problem isn't that the wealthy (or "comfortable") aren't spending enough, it's that there aren't enough of them. If they all spent themselves into bankruptcy it still wouldn't be enough. Sometimes, the nation has economic woes that can't be defused with an injection of tax rebate checks. And you can't seriously stop a family's slump into economic ruin by giving them some taxes back.

It's gonna take more then shopping to get us out of this one. A lot more.

Comfortable middle class may not be comfortable for long if the breadwinner loses his/her job, followed by his/her health care.

Fact is, in a country with a safety net is minimal at best, no one except true elites should feel 'comfortable.' Which is why the recommendation to "go out and spend" is so richly ridiculous. It smacks of "let them eat cake" except that Marie Antoinette actually never said it. But apparently this so-called expert did.

I have one goat you have two; I want you to cut your 2nd goat in half so I can have exactly what you have.

and while your at it sell your Volvo take the proceeds and buy me a Kia, and you a Kia. see this is what I want, your stuff.

Your brother has a good list.

- Government officials to discuss policy, make a decision and move on. Not keep re-fighting issues ad nauseum.

- The media to use the public airwaves to discuss issues of the day. IN DEPTH. There aren't enough Charlie Roses out there.

- Create a tax system that is fair and equitable and every use it. It fries me to the bone that Warren Buffet pays taxes at the capital gains rate when we all know he could afford whatever he was taxed.

- Stop the Arrogance, Hypocrisy, and Mendacity

- Business and their leaders to take the long view. Turn off CNBC and Bloomberg they only encourage short term thinking. Most CEO's can't see past their nose.

- Everyone to read more, listen more and talk less.

I could go on and on and on.