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Newsweek joins the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy in decrying the slumping US economy. Of course, in order to be fair-and-balanced, they offered up some alternative viewpoints.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, tells NEWSWEEK that "home sales and prices in most of the country will improve during the second half of 2008."

Last month, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said, "We expect to see a faster pace of economic growth before the end of the year."

Nice to see some unbiased analysis of the situation there. Not.

(Yun is the Little Orphan Annie of forecasters. He's always sure the sun will come out tomorrow.)

Not that the Newsweek writer offered up anything more substantial himself.

While businesses—especially those that export—are holding up, the economy is being dragged down by the cement shoes of a freaked-out consumer and a punk housing market.

Since when did "punk" become acceptable journalistic verbiage? That sure ain't in my copy of The Elements of Style. I guess Ashton Kutcher's influence on our cultural foundations was more profound than I realized.

Meanwhile, some of the reactions to the high commodities prices are just plain hysterical.

Last November, retired school principal Barbara McGeary, 75, of Camp Hill, Pa., switched from a Toyota Rav 4 SUV to a Prius. But the savings she realizes are eaten by a higher food bill.

Sure, SUVs are obsolete, oversized, gas-guzzling icons of evil, but a RAV4 isn't that bad, in the grand scheme of things. I mean it is a Toyota, after all. And it's not as if a 70-something retiree is doing a whole lot of commuting, anyway. There's no way the gas savings outweigh the car payments. Not to mention the carbon footprint of the producing new car itself. Whatever makes grandma happy, I guess.