Chait compares the US recession to other financial crises:
I think that comparison has flaws of its own. But surely it tells us something — it tells us that Obama’s boast that we avoided total disaster is not meaningless. The steps the administration and the Federal Reserve undertook in face of the recession — quantitative easing, some degree of fiscal stimulus, banking bailouts, reorganizing the auto industry rather than letting it collapse in the face of frozen credit markets — prevented the kinds of total disaster that are the norm in the face of this kind of crisis.
To run against Obama, Frum advises the GOP to come up with a, you know, plan for America's future.
(Chart from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis)
The Dish 