Bitch About Obama

The 1980s and 1990s made up the era of the great dispersal. Forty-three million people moved every year, and basically they moved outward — from inner-ring suburbs to far-flung exurbs on the metro fringe. For example, the population of metropolitan Pittsburgh declined by 8 percent in those years, but the developed land area of the Pittsburgh area sprawled outward by 43 percent.

If you asked people in that age of go-go suburbia what they wanted in their new housing developments, they often said they wanted a golf course. But the culture has changed. If you ask people today what they want, they’re more likely to say coffee shops, hiking trails and community centers.

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By David Corn

The more things change, the more they

stay . . . well, you know. And looking at President-elect Barack Obama‘s top appointments, it’s easy to wonder whether convention has triumphed over change — and centrists over progressives.

A quick run-down: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who supported the Iraq war until she initiated her presidential bid, has been handed the Cabinet’s big plum: secretary of state. And Bush’s second defense secretary, Robert Gates, will become Obama’s first defense secretary. The Obama foreign policy adviser regarded as the most liberal in his inner circle, Susan E. Rice, has been picked for the U.N. ambassador slot. Obama is elevating this job to Cabinet rank, but he’s still sending Rice to New York — and in politics and policy, proximity to power matters. For national security adviser, Obama has picked James L. Jones. The retired four-star general was not hawkish on the Iraq war and seems to be a non-ideologue who possesses the right experience for the job. But he probably would have ended up in a McCain administration, and his selection has not heartened progressives.

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(Bloomberg) — U.S. retailers opened their doors at midnight and discounted merchandise as much as 70 percent on the day after Thanksgiving to counter what may be the weakest holiday shopping season in six years.

Individuals may spend an average of $616 on holiday gifts this year, down 29 percent from a year earlier, according to a Gallup Inc. poll. That raises the pressure on chains facing declining consumer confidence and the prospect of a recession.

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Great video of what we can expect in the next four years in terms of our economy.

Who is GERALD CELENTE? Check out this video in which he predicted this 2008 panic/recession back in 2007. We are not suggesting that this guy is Nostradamus and everything he predicts is absolute. We just know that he has a bigger research budget than we do, so he’s got to know a few things. Find his website here.