tarpaulin

Given the almost jubilant anticipation that the US financial sector held yesterday for yet another turn of the screw that opens up the flood gates for more stimulus, I feel doubly vexed that the economic assessment was winnowed away into a non-story. Of course, it was too much of a tell that banks and associates rejoiced and rallied over the TARP package. That should have made everyone a bit queasy. More dismal news would cue world governments to inject some fresh money into the economy, and like I once heard a reporter fumble the idiom, paying Peter to rob Paul, instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul.  The mixed up message is about the same but there's a subtle difference I cannot quite unravel.  Business kept its poker face, held its composure, so they can escape some measure of the scrutiny that goes with the duplicity of companies who complain venomously over government interference and call economic policies defeatist and yet gladly accept a piece of bail-out pie or unbuild to order to fulfill a government contract or niche.  A cleverly executed hybrid automobile, I am sure, would do well on the market on its own merit, but instead of innovation, cost-overruns and short-comings are buffed down with tax credits and funding earmarks for pet-projects.  I wonder what was decided behind closed doors that yanked this story from the next day’s news cycle.