Tuesday, January 20, 2009
PRESIDENT OBAMA
THE DAWN of a new presidency is always a time of awe and anxiety. The awe comes in bearing witness to the peaceful transfer of power as a new chapter of national history unfolds. The anxiety speaks to an untested new leader and the challenges he will face. The swearing-in today of the nation's 44th...
Sign in to see full entry.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The new administration needs room to maneuver.
HAS THERE ever been a less lovable governmental entity than the Treasury Department's Troubled Assets Relief Program? Conceived amid an election-season crisis, priced at a gargantuan $700 billion, and reluctantly approved by Congress, the inelegantly-named financial bailout plan has been struggling...
Sign in to see full entry.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Dr. Obama's Cure
THE U.S. ECONOMY is indeed "very sick," as President-elect Barack Obama put it yesterday. One indicator of its parlous state: Though companies have managed to issue an additional $300 billion worth of short-term debt since mid-October, that pickup in lending is entirely explained by the Federal...
Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
George W. Bush becomes the conservation president, at least at sea.
YES, YOU READ that right. A man whose administration doesn't exactly have a green seal of approval from environmentalists will grant monument status today to three vast and breathtaking areas teeming with marine life in the South Pacific. Combined with other designations over the past eight years,...
Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Global Warming is only the tip of the Iceberg
The Cold War shaped world politics for half a century. But global warming may shape the patterns of global conflict for much longer than that -- and help spark clashes that will be, in every sense of the word, hot wars. We're used to thinking of climate change as an environmental problem, not a...
Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Case of the missing Vice-President Elect
Since he was chosen to fill out the Democratic ticket back in August, Joe Biden has maintained that he doesn’t want the expansive authority and high profile that Dick Cheney carved out for himself as vice president. It certainly made for good campaign rhetoric – it never hurts to tell voters that...
Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Obama's Stimlus Package
I am to see that the shroud of secrecy surrounding the formulation of an economic stimulus plan by President-elect Barack Obama is lifting, albeit through leaks. Since his advisers met with congressional leaders last week, details from the Capitol Hill briefing have trickled out that are bringing...
Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Rahm Emanuel Still Makes Nancy Pelosi Nervous
Nancy Pelosi is in an enviable position, the most powerful Democrat in Congress at a time of national ascendancy for her party, but she seems a little nervous. Part of this is her nature. Just like her two-decade climb up the Democratic ranks, Pelosi’s two years as House speaker have been marked by...
Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Bailout Backlash
Americans have begun an angry backlash against bailouts that could become a national revolt in 2009. The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by some 500 basis points. Government agencies have poured close to $8 trillion into banking bailouts. The Treasury secretary has promoted massive government...
Sign in to see full entry.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The 17 worst films of 2008
17. Smart People Here's another indie that's been workshopped into inertness, featuring a cast of famous faces who seem to be quietly congratulating themselves for appearing in a movie that "really says something," even though it's only speaking to a rarified circle of Hollywood types who confuse...
Sign in to see full entry.
