“Lawrence Kudlow” on The Daily Caller

Ben Bernanke threw a curveball in his midterm report to Congress this week. The Fed view of the economy has been downgraded since it last reported in February. Although the official Fed forecast for 2010-11 is still 3 to 4 percent real growth, Bernanke sounded particularly gloomy when he characterized the economy as “unusually uncertain.” And he indicated that the majority view of the Fed Board of Governors and Reserve Bank presidents is that the risks to growth are “weighted to the downside.” (more)

With a bad-blood, confidence-destroying battle royale going on between Team Obama and business, you would think a highly publicized White House jobs summit would have produced some kind of positive announcement that gives a nod to the business point of view. (more)

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Here are some thoughts on a few recent and important money-politics headlines: (more)

Revolution in California and political regime change come November has been a theme of mine for weeks. Tuesday night’s big victories for Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina moved that agenda nicely down the field. (more)

One day Team Obama announces a plan for enhanced rescission authority to impound wasteful spending, and the next day the House surfaces a plan for $200 billion in “stimulus” spending on transfer payments for welfare, even more unemployment compensation, still more Medicaid, and a bunch of special-interest subsidies. (more)

U.S and world stock markets are slumping badly as intensified systemic risks from the Greek and European debt-default contagion continue to spread. Disciplinarian markets of stocks, bonds, gold, and currencies are signaling the inadequacy of European Union rescue plans and the global fear that economic recovery will be blunted. (more)

Panic has gripped stock markets worldwide over the Greek debt crisis and the threat of a debt-deflation contagion through banks in Europe (primarily) and the U.S. that own the bonds of Greece, Portugal, Spain, and so forth. If these bond asset prices collapse totally, lending facilities would be badly crimped for both the short and long term. And that, in turn, would damage prospects for economic recovery.
The Dow closed today off nearly 350 points. Earlier in the day the Dow was down 850 points, though there is talk of computer glitches and technical problems that may have temporarily undermined trading. Either way, the market is getting creamed as a result of the Greek story. (more)

The ink was barely dry on the $150 billion EU/IMF bailout of Greece when world stock markets tanked on two major fears. First, financial analysts are concerned that the bailout money won’t be enough to cover Greece’s borrowing needs from its out-of-control budget deficit. Second, there are fears that the EU/IMF deal will not be approved by the German parliament in a vote scheduled for Friday. (more)

President Obama has appointed three new doves to the Federal Reserve Board, thereby taking command of the nation’s central bank. But there’s a split developing inside the Federal Reserve System: The Reserve Bank presidents, appointed by their own district boards of directors, are increasingly likely to wage a battle royale against the central-bank headquarters in Washington and its free-money, ultra-easy policies. (more)

So much is being written in the mainstream media about who the tea partiers are, but very little is being recorded about what these folks are actually saying. (more)

The Daily Caller’s own Jon Ward was on The Kudlow Report Wednesday night, where he and Larry played speculative pitch-and-catch. The ball in this case was the rumors that NEC director Larry Summers would resign before the midterm elections. (more)

With everybody focused on Obamacare and its new entitlement spending and taxing, the administration has tried to sneak in yet another bailout for housing. Yet again, Team Obama is rewarding reckless behavior, punishing the 90 percent of responsible homeowners who are making good on their mortgages, and setting up a greater moral hazard that will surely lead to an expansion of bailout nation. (more)

Surprise, surprise. Sen. Chris Dodd’s financial-regulation proposal raises the possibility of substantial progress on the road to ending “Too Big To Fail” (TBTF) and bailout nation for banks and other financial institutions. (more)

Tea Party leaders have asked voters for their help in drafting a “Contract from America.” Some, including Larry Kudlow himself, are wondering: What does that mean? What’s the process involved in drafting such a contract? Well, the Daily Caller’s own Alex Pappas was on The Kudlow Report to explain: (more)

CNBC host and supply-side economist Larry Kudlow will not say — among encouragement from a group of New York free market champions — if he’s considering challenging Sen. Chuck Schumer for his New York Senate seat up for election this year. (more)