Pablum from McClatchy ...

Kevin G. Hall writes an article in praise of Henry M Paulson Jr: Treasury Secretary Paulson earns praise for calming markets

Paulson was given little chance of accomplishing the ambitious goals he announced, such as overhauling the tax code and putting Social Security on a firm footing. He's got even less of a chance now, with Democrats in charge of Congress and the 2008 elections fast approaching.

Poor guy, foiled in his goals of making things even more skewed towards the very rich and worse for everyone else. Less chance with the Democrats? Come on, the Republican goal of destroying SS met its road block while Republicans were an unchallenged majority in Congress.

'Pears Paulson is some kind of superman playing with the house of cards they call a 'market.'

August was one of the most volatile months ever for stock prices, as the market for subprime mortgages — those issued to the weakest borrowers — essentially closed down. Those problems spread to global credit markets, crimping the ability of corporations to issue short-term debt to fund day-to-day operations. That threatened broader economic activity as well as the jobs and income of all Americans.

As problems deepened, Paulson appeared almost daily on cable news channels, talking up the economy's fundamental strength without downplaying the severity of the problems in the financial markets. The Federal Reserve's half-point rate cut on Sept. 18 restored Wall Street's confidence, but Paulson's performance in a key supporting role won over important decision-makers in Washington such as the cantankerous Frank, hardly a Bush administration admirer.

I'll assume the reporter is correct and that Representative Barney Frank considers that Paulson was in the right place at the right time. However this sentence --

'Paulson's performance in a key supporting role won over important decision-makers in Washington such as the cantankerous Frank, hardly a Bush administration admirer'

-- implies that under more ordinary circumstances, and possibly because he's cantankerous, Barney Frank would usually lie about his opinions because he's 'hardly a Bush administration admirer' but because Paulson is just 'so good' poor ol' Barney had to tell the truth. Tell me that's not the gist!

Wonder if any of this is real:

Paulson also has gotten involved in negotiations with poor countries to forgive debt in exchange for nature preservation. He's working with development banks to fund environmental initiatives. And Bush tapped Paulson in late September to head an effort to promote and finance new low-carbon technologies, such as clean coal and nuclear energy.

We already know that any initiative of Bush's is a front to either avoid real progress on global warming or for financial gain for his friends, or both. Too bad this 'honor' was included in the same paragraph with two items that sound like possible 'good things.'

How I hate that I don't trust any of them anymore! Where's the evidence, McClatchy? How about some reporting instead of just transcribing their words.