Terrance Heath

Sometimes the most pointed — or preposterous — comes from unexpected sources. This time, it's The Onion providing the former and the Wall Street Journal serving up the latter.

It looks like another 0-for-3 weekend for the watchdog, as it looks like any questions that are going to be asked — and answered — before election day already have been.

It was 79 years ago today that, the 1929 Wall Street Crash marked the beginning of America's slide in to the Great Depression. As we find ourselves in the middle of an economic crisis — during which the Great Depression has been referenced by just about everyone — I decided to make the anniversary by talking with economist and author Robert Kuttner about how we got to the Crash of 1929 to Meltdown 2008, and how we can avoid a repeat of what followed the 1929 crash.

In my work-related news reading this morning, I came across an interesting take on Obama's exchange with "Joe the Plumber."

The truth is that Obama in Ohio spoke the language of American democracy, which has always included a perception that wealth is a form of power, and that stupendous inequalities of wealth produce an undemocratic inequality of power. His questioner, angry in anticipation that he could not hold onto all of the $300,000 he might hypothetically earn in a year, spoke the language of righteous self-interest; and he cited as his irrefutable authority "the American dream." If I follow that dream, said the Joe of today, hoarding the wealth of the Joe of tomorrow, why should I ever pay a higher tax?

Obama's answer was simple and Christian. Once you have been helped by a tax break to prosper and to grow relatively rich, it seems fair to give others lower down the ladder the same chance that once helped you.

You'd think so. But once again, depending on how you you believe faith and finance relate to one another.

Sometimes the most pointed — or preposterous — comes from unexpected sources. This time, it's The Onion providing the former and the Wall Street Journal serving up the latter.

It looks like another 0-for-3 weekend for the watchdog, as it looks like any questions that are going to be asked — and answered — before election day already have been.

It was 79 years ago today that, the 1929 Wall Street Crash marked the beginning of America's slide in to the Great Depression. As we find ourselves in the middle of an economic crisis — during which the Great Depression has been referenced by just about everyone — I decided to make the anniversary by talking with economist and author Robert Kuttner about how we got to the Crash of 1929 to Meltdown 2008, and how we can avoid a repeat of what followed the 1929 crash.

In my work-related news reading this morning, I came across an interesting take on Obama's exchange with "Joe the Plumber."

The truth is that Obama in Ohio spoke the language of American democracy, which has always included a perception that wealth is a form of power, and that stupendous inequalities of wealth produce an undemocratic inequality of power. His questioner, angry in anticipation that he could not hold onto all of the $300,000 he might hypothetically earn in a year, spoke the language of righteous self-interest; and he cited as his irrefutable authority "the American dream." If I follow that dream, said the Joe of today, hoarding the wealth of the Joe of tomorrow, why should I ever pay a higher tax?

Obama's answer was simple and Christian. Once you have been helped by a tax break to prosper and to grow relatively rich, it seems fair to give others lower down the ladder the same chance that once helped you.

You'd think so. But once again, depending on how you you believe faith and finance relate to one another.

It was a pretty big news weekend. And even though guessing what a particular Sunday show guest would be asked was a "no-brainer," it's tempting to score a 2-for3 weekend for the watchdog.