I think we have a Matt Cooper problem. Here's a little illustration:

Jared Bernstein was on a call with bloggers yesterday to discuss the stimulus plan, the financial rescue plan, and how they complement each other. Matt Cooper's take is here. Matt Yglesias' take is here.

Yglesias relays Bernstein's explanation of how the success of the stimulus package depends on a successful financial rescue, and links to a useful further discussion of how the bits of the Geithner plan fit together. I came away enlightened.

Cooper reports, essentially, that Bernstein was willing to arrange a call with bloggers. I came away looking for other bloggers on the call interested in reporting what Bernstein said.

I don't want to hate on Cooper, he is by all accounts a fine and insightful reporter. But he's neither reporting nor providing much insight on TPM. I'm just concerned about the opportunity cost here; we could have another Schor, Kleefeld, or Roth; we could have a finance or economics reporter; we could have a Cooper using his DC rolodex to help readers understand the thinking and constraints behind confusing policy moves in the administration (cf. Geithner's non-plan*).

(* - look at the interpretation of Geithner's thinking provided by his old friends Roubini, Setser and Delong linked down in the updates)