Reporting from Des Moines— Campaigning in Iowa on Thursday, Mitt Romney told a heckler, “Corporations are people, my friend”—words immediately seized upon by Democrats in what they termed as a possible defining statement by the presidential candidate.

The stock market took a breather from its weeklong downhill tumble Thursday to make one of its largest advances ever.

After wild gyrations in its final minutes, the Dow Jones industrial average finished up 423 points, or 3.9%, to 11,143. The largest gain in history happened on Oct. 13, 2008, when the Dow gained 936 points.

The S&P 500 closed up 51 points, a 4.6% increase. The Nasdaq is up 4.7%, or 111 points, to 2,493.

Earlier in the day, the Labor Department said 395,000 people applied for jobless benefits, the lowest level since April. Hopeful investors translated the report as a sign that the economy might not be heading toward a double-dip recession.

Thursday's close was a stunning reversal of the Dow's 519-point plummet on Wednesday. Wall Street has had a suspenseful week as the market's reactions to the nation's credit downgrade and a European debt crisis veered between fear and faith.

Protests Force Israel to Confront Wealth Gap

TEL AVIV — They are mainstays of the society pages and glossy magazines. Some are praised for the hospital wings they have built, others are gossiped about for their quirks.

Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv last week to protest the rising cost of living as well as social and economic inequality.

But these days, the handful of wealthy families who dominate the Israeli economy are assuming a new role: one of the chief targets of the tent-city protesters who have shaken Israel in the past month.

The “tycoons,” as they are known even in Hebrew, are suddenly facing enraged scrutiny as middle-class families complain that a country once viewed as an example of intimate equality today has one of the largest gaps between rich and poor in the industrialized world.

The tent-city protesters, who have shifted the public discourse by demanding affordable housing and other essential goods, issued a document this week calling for a new socioeconomic agenda. Topping their goals: “minimizing social inequalities.”

“What is keeping people on the streets is the question that if we are all having a hard time and we are all working and paying taxes, who is making the profits?” said Daphni Leef, the 25-year-old filmmaker who began this protest movement with a Facebook posting and remains at its center. “We know there are certain families that have a lot of money and a lot of influence and there is no transparency. People feel deceived.”

**Those families — the Ofers, the Dankners, the Tshuvas, the Fishmans and others — account for the 10 biggest business groups in the country and together control some 30 percent of the economy. They will doubtless be among the targets at another set of street demonstrations planned for Saturday night.

“It is becoming clearer to more and more people that this issue of concentration of wealth has become more important,” said Einat Wilf, a legislator who submitted a bill last year aimed at tackling the issue. “As a result of the protests, there is much more political will to fight it than in the past.”**

"A Standard & Poor’s director said for the first time Thursday that one reason the United States lost its triple-A credit rating was that several lawmakers expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default — a position put forth by some Republicans."

"Without specifically mentioning Republicans, S&P senior director Joydeep Mukherji said the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a potential default,” Mukherji said."

Bachmann spent much of the debate restating, in strong terms, her opposition to raising the nation's debt ceiling; she was critical of the deal reached earlier this month on Capitol Hill. She contended that the downgrade given the nation's credit rating earlier this month by Standard and Poor's vindicated her view.

"I was proved right in my position," Bachmann said.

FDR did nothing for the Jews.

jghedge,

Funny how you're not commenting on FDR personally trying to send my friend to the gas chamber. FDR is/was a piece of trash.


The evil one

"Typical woman: show up late and fold under pressure," he said. "You really want that as president?"

Or reality, or obviously knowing nothing about history, economics and business,