Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Post-Anti-Americanism
Howard Fineman "I talked to numerous businesspeople and others in Europe who had lost the awe they had—briefly—that we had elected an African-American, and a cool global guy at that. They are aware that he has lost his popularity in the United States, and, even though he managed to enact some massive legislation—on health care, stimulus, and finance services—they increasingly view him as ineffectual. “He’s hollow,” said one leading businessman in Istanbul." The rest of the article deals with non-Obama issues, but all of it must be assessed thusly: are the opinions based on either concrete facts or simply feelings?
President’s Commission Recommends President Reconsider Drilling Ban
Heritage "Clearly the President’s Commission needs to take a hard look at the moratorium to see if it is doing more harm than good. With unemployment nationally at 9.5% and the economy of the Gulf region in trouble, this is not the time for heavy handed federal regulations that will further harm the people of the Gulf. The Commission has given the Obama Administration until August 23rd and it will be interesting to see if the Obama Administration takes the President’s Commission’s requests seriously."
The Left's Special Interest Human Shields
Michelle Malkin "Left-wing radical Saul Alinsky taught his education acolytes well. Teacher organizers, he counseled, must commit to a "singleness of purpose." No, not serving children's needs, but serving the "ability to build a power base." If that isn't the dictionary definition of "special interest," what is?"
Fed Looks to Spur Growth by Buying Government Debt
Bloomberg "Federal Reserve officials decided to reinvest principal payments on mortgage holdings into long-term Treasury securities, making their first attempt to bolster growth since March 2009 to keep the slowing U.S. economy from relapsing into recession."
National Review "...the 2 or 3 percent of the population with so much money they won’t even miss a few thousand bucks. The other 97 or 98 percent will feel no pain, and we’ll be able to call ourselves deficit hawks when all those billions start rolling in.”
"On paper, this strategy may look promising. But a close look at who will pay the tab, where they live, and who represents them on Capitol Hill suggests that this approach has some major political flaws."
The latest bailout for public unions and spendthrift states. "Witness yesterday's 247-161 largely party-line House vote to approve a Senate bill shovelling another $26.1 billion out to state education and Medicaid programs. The White House has promoted the bill as emergency assistance for strained state budgets. But this unique brand of therapy drives states to spend more, not less. The "assistance" is so expensive that several governors were begging for relief even before Mr. Obama signed it into law."
National Review "...the 2 or 3 percent of the population with so much money they won’t even miss a few thousand bucks. The other 97 or 98 percent will feel no pain, and we’ll be able to call ourselves deficit hawks when all those billions start rolling in.”
"On paper, this strategy may look promising. But a close look at who will pay the tab, where they live, and who represents them on Capitol Hill suggests that this approach has some major political flaws."
The latest bailout for public unions and spendthrift states. "Witness yesterday's 247-161 largely party-line House vote to approve a Senate bill shovelling another $26.1 billion out to state education and Medicaid programs. The White House has promoted the bill as emergency assistance for strained state budgets. But this unique brand of therapy drives states to spend more, not less. The "assistance" is so expensive that several governors were begging for relief even before Mr. Obama signed it into law."
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