In a sobering interview, Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck (beginning at 1:27) predicts a “very deep” and “relatively long” recession. He thinks that state intervention in the financial sector should be “fast, strong and short” but instead is “long, shallow and will continue for many years to come.” And inflation? “The stimulus projects that are being put into place mean the printing machines are starting to work.”

Gotta love those Daily News headlines.

A guide to new taxes: “If it exists, it can be taxed.”

Except for Democratic nominees. Yup — there is another one.

Sarah Palin replaced by Newt Gingrich at major GOP fundraiser. The former seems unable to shake her run of unfavorable news. Maybe she doesn’t want to be a 2012 hopeful?

Treasury still is not accounting for TARP funds. Not exactly news, I suppose.

All the GOP senators finally on the same page — on using budget reconciliation to push through healthcare. So they have the nerve to grind the senate to a halt?

Michael Gerson has some interesting stats: “According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who disapprove of Obama’s job performance increased by nine points from February to March. Among Catholics as a whole, his disapproval rating jumped 14 points. And among white, non-Hispanic Catholics, the figure doubled — from 20 percent to 41 percent. Catholics are having second thoughts, but it could get much worse.” He argues Catholics in essence are realizing they were hoodwinked into thinking Obama was receptive to their views on social issues. Well, if it makes them feel better, lots of people pegged Obama wrong.

Why isn’t the head of the UAW getting shoved out? Well, he has a legal right to be there, he has a constituency, and it’s not the government’s job to . .  . oh. .  .  wait. Oh puleez. Big Labor spent a fortune to elect Obama and he’s not about to treat them like mere corporate executives.

Did Treasury rig the rules for the toxic asset plan to limit the participants to a few funds? Yup. Imagine if a Republican came up with a get rich quick scheme like this for a handful of financial players.

Judd Gregg: “Instead of tightening Uncle Sam’s belt the way so many American families are cutting back these days, the president’s proposal spends so aggressively that it essentially adds $1 trillion to the debt, on average, every year. Except for some accounting gimmicks, the budget makes no attempt to cut wasteful spending or find savings. It ignores reform for major entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security, which are on track to cost us $67 trillion more than we have over the next 75 years. The new spending is coupled with the largest tax increase in U.S. history — $1.5 trillion over 10 years.” That cabinet thing never would have worked out, I guess.

GOP New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie moves to nail down his conservative base: “Bret Schundler, who became the darling of national conservatives during his nine years as Mayor of Jersey City and won the Republican nomination for Governor in 2001, today endorsed Christopher Christie for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.”