Let's face it!  The runaway spending spree the Bush Administration has finally unleashed has hit with the big bang!

Stagflation has overtaken the nation!

No sword dance with friendly Saudi royalty or meeting with world leaders to try to plant rocket launching pads on European nation's borders can cover up a raging big bank meltdown.

The New York Times on April 21 headlined the review by Barry Gewen with the following:

The diary below was originally posted earlier today in the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

The conservative shift in American politics undermined the economic security of working people. Increasingly, individuals are absorbing more risks, working longer hours and earning less. Meanwhile, corporations and government benefit from less accountability to tax payers, consumers and employees. Renowned economist Jared Bernstein proposes in his new book, All Together Now: Common Sense For A Fair Economy, (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.) that we're ensnared in a "YOYO economy". The acronym YOYO means, "You're On Your Own." Bernstein's book illustrates how the "YOYOists" have schemed to transfer the burden of economic risk onto individuals and their families.

Having a difficult time making sense of the religious right? It is alien territory for many Americans in terms of the religious, political and public policy aspects. If we are going to be able to have conversations about the politics of the Christian right, it helps to have some foundational knowledge.

Yesterday, I did a round-up of some of the best and most important blog posts about the religious right from the past week. And as I did, it occurred to me that even as most people find it difficult to learn about the religious right, let alone have a thoughtful conversation about it, it is also hard to figure out how to learn the things that are most important to know. Blogs are helpful, but it is hard to get a foundation of knowledge from blogs alone.

Over the next little while, I will do a series of posts that can be your own personal home school curriculum on the subject. To start, here are five basic books (among many on the subject) that, taken together, provide a good foundation of knowledge that will be helpful in the run-up to this year's elections, as well as the elections of 2008. This foundation will also help to make sense of ongoing news reporting and blog posts you may encounter, and to provide some common knowledge and language among people who share your concerns about this powerful political movement.

Thank you, Kevin Phillips. The conservative scholar and author of the important new book, American Theocracy, has made it safe for all to utter the word "theocracy," without fear of being dismissed as a kook, an exaggerator or a religious bigot. (Or at least safer.)

I will have much more to say about American Theocracy in the not too distant future, but for now let's note that while this book is important for many reasons, it is worth highlighting that unlike almost every other writer that has tackled the Christian Right, he does not shy away from discussing the Christian theocratic movement as it exists in our time, in the U.S. (His argument is summarized in the current issue of The Nation.  His article opens this way:

"Is theocracy in the United States (1) a legitimate fear, as some liberals argue; (2) a joke, given the nation's rising secular population and moral laxity; (3) a worrisome bias of major GOP constituencies and pressure groups; or (4) all of the above? The last, I would argue."