Kids give advice to Obama

From an NYTimes article. I liked this one best:

Dear Obama,

I have grown up with a very liberal mom and a very conservative dad. Thank you for bringing my parents somewhat closer together. :) You are my idol Mr. Barack — I am partly African-American and I am very happy to see an African-American leading this country.

— Olivia Roper-Caldbeck, age 12, Seattle

Who is better for the economy?

Interesting analysis for the Wall St. Journal, of all people. It looks like among the best presidents in terms of job growth (as measured by "payroll expansion"), the 3 best of them were Democrats (Clinton, Johnson, Truman). Reagan was the Republican who came in at #4. Well well well....

President	Jobs created	Jobs at end of term	Jobs at start of term	Payroll expansion	Jobs created per year in office	Population growth	Percent change in population
George W. Bush	3.0 million	135.5 million	132.5 million	2.3%	375,000	22.0 million	7.7%
Bill Clinton	23.1 million	132.5 million	109.4 million	21.1%	2,900,000	25.2 million	8.9%
George H.W. Bush	2.5 million	109.4 million	106.9 million	2.3%	625,000	12.5 million	4.8%
Ronald Reagan	16.0 million	106.9 million	90.9 million	17.6%	2,000,000	17.3 million	7%
Jimmy Carter	10.5 million	90.9 million	80.4 million	13.1%	2,600,000	9.8 million	4.3%
Gerald Ford	1.8 million	80.4 million	78.6 million	2.3%	745,000	5.1 million	2.3%
Richard Nixon	9.4 million	78.6 million	69.2 million	13.6%	1,700,000	12.3 million	5.7%
Lyndon Johnson	11.9 million	69.2 million	57.3 million	20.8%	2,300,000	11.3 million	5.6%
John F. Kennedy	3.6 million	57.3 million	53.7 million	6.7%	1,200,000	8.2 million	4.3%
Dwight Eisenhower	3.5 million	53.7 million	50.2 million	7%	438,000	23.3 million	12.8%
Harry Truman	8.4 million	50.2 million	41.8 million	20.1%	1,100,000	N/A	N/A

Get money from the government, in 27 minutes

MotherJones has a fun article up about how easy it is for financial firms to get TARP money. The application apparently takes 27 minutes.

To put it in perspective, here are five things that take longer than filling out the TARP application.

1. Applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): 4 hours.
   
2. Watching Wall Street: 2 hours, 5 minutes.
   
3. Making a tuna noodle casserole: 1 hour, 20 minutes.
   
4. Applying for New York State unemployment insurance benefits: 30 minutes.
   
5. Applying for food stamps in New Jersey: 30 minutes.