Bloomberg reports that the Department of Commerce now believes the first 12 months of the recession was twice as bad as previously thought. Are we heading deeper into recession? Does the staggering debt load the Obama administration has strapped to the already overburdened backs of the American taxpayer portend even worse economic news? Are we heading for a 1930s rerun? Does anyone remember what that was like? Listen to Bing Crosby, 1931. Brother Can You Spare A Dime. Lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney. With apologies to Messers Harburg and Gorney, I have added additional lyrics to fit the times.

 

 

They used to tell me he was building a dream

And so I followed the mob

I thought that I was really part of a team

And so we gave him the job

Once I built a factory and I made it run

We made cars all the time

Now he’s given it to the union and they’re having fun

Brother can you spare a dime

 

On the campaign, gee we looked swell

Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum

Marching with Acorn, giving them hell

And I was the kid with the drum

 

Say don’t  you remember, we called him Barack

It was Barack, Barack all the time

Say don’t you remember, Barack was our pal

Brother can you spare a dime