So the Treasury Secretary went to Washington on Tuesday and talked about a plan to send as much as $2 trillion through the banking system.

Today, the bankers are in Washington trying to defend how they’ve used the $700 billion they already got.

Good luck with that. A lot of people across America are incensed by stories about fat bonuses, redecorated offices and an atittude that seems to say “trust us, really” when we’ve been given no real reason to do so.

Coupled with images like this one:

No, it’s not looking like anyone’s too happy with this banking bailout — except maybe…

Yesterday, the news was from Macy’s — the retailer would cut 7,000 jobs

Last week, the jobs cuts came from almost everywhere – Caterpillar, Pfizer, GM, Home Depot, Sprint Nextel, and the list goes on.  

The Post-Dispatch hasn’t been immune. Neither has Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Enterprise, and the St. Louis Archdiocese.

We all know — and we’ve been told by all the experts — it’s going to take a good long while for the economy to recover. When I work the concession stand at our high school basketball games, talk that once turned to the teams and the kids now turns to the economy.

Plenty of the…

A story today by the Associated Press tells of a study by Northeastern University that black teenagers are killing each other in rising numbers, despite an overall falling crime rate across the nation.

FBI crime statistics show overall decreases in murder and other violent crimes. The a report by criminal justice professors James Alan Fox and Marc Swatt uncovers other disturbing trends within that data. (Related: Updated FBI crime statistic)

Among their findings: an increase of more than 39 percent in the number of black males between the ages of 14 and 17 killed between 2000 and 2007, and an increase of 34…

Nearly one-third of the country’s top executives expect to cut payrolls in the coming months as companies cope with a weakened economy dogged by housing, credit and financial problems.

According to this Associated Press story,  a survey by the Business Roundtable, released Thursday, showed that most executives expect sales and capital investment to remain at current levels or even improve over the next six months. The survey points out that the  challenging economic environment is forcing companies to produce more with fewer workers, a key driver of recent increases in U.S. productivity.

“Our CEOS realize there are still challenges for the economy…