Well I'm sure glad that Bush's record tax breaks for the wealthy are being put to good use and getting reinvested in the economy.

At $104 Million, Picasso Smashes Auction Record

My favorite is glowing article in the International Herald Tribune that speaks of;

" Constantly hailed as the giant of modern art, Picasso was probably at his greatest when working under the spell of Old Masters. The rigorous composition, the color balance and the profound psychological probe of the young sitter place the likeness in a category that begins with Italian Renaissance portraitists and continues right through the 19th century with Corot and Degas."

You can just hear the breathlessness of the writer has they espouse

"Buyers sensed the unique character of the occasion. They responded to pictures that played each other up, linked by affinities that went beyond style or school."

"Edouard Manet's "Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne" (Races in the Bois de Boulogne) is as important regarding the Impressionist's painting as "Garçon" is within Picasso's oeuvre. The complex composition worthy of 17th-century masters is combined with a sketchiness in much of the detail that already heralds the march toward Abstractionism."

What a load of crap!

So millions unemployed with more under-employed, and our privileged class merchants come "landed-gentry" throw money at a painting. Ah well, to each their own.