44: The Obama Presidency

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

The president offers more specifics on health reform but ...

"THE TIME for bickering is over," President Obama declared Wednesday night. Perhaps that will work better on members of Congress than it does in some families of our acquaintance, but we have our doubts. Mr. Obama spoke Wednesday night to a nation skeptical of his health-care plans and a Congress... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

The right response is not a retreat.

LAST MONTH we expected that Afghanistan's elections would mark a modest step forward for the country. Now it appears that they could be a major reverse. Though the election campaign was positive in many respects, Election Day itself is emerging as a disaster of relatively low turnout and massive... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Useful literature on school vouchers

PRESIDENT OBAMA reportedly has a hefty reading list while vacationing this week, but I would like to offer two additions, both hot off the presses. One is an article by the education expert who studied the D.C. voucher program; the second is a study on school safety in the city's public and private... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

A legislative master who bucked political tides

TED KENNEDY once said that his own legislative record was one he'd love to run against. A number of people tried, of course, and lost. But then, they weren't Ted Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy spent 46 years in the Senate hewing pretty steadily to his course while others trimmed their sails or just plain... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, August 7, 2009

An inspiring ascent, a historic vote.

AT 3:15 P.M. Thursday, Aug. 6, the nation witnessed the confirmation of its first Hispanic justice to the Supreme Court. By a vote of 68 to 31, Sonia Maria Sotomayor, daughter of the Bronx and Puerto Rico, became the 111th person and only the third woman to join the highest court in the land. The... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Will there be any consequence for Venezuela's material support for Colombia

WHEN THE Colombian government last year unveiled extensive evidence that the government of Venezuela had collaborated with a Colombian rebel movement known for terrorism and drug trafficking, other Latin American governments and the United States mostly chose to look the other way. The evidence was... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Why Obama's battle against Jewish settlements could prove self-defeating

ONE OF THE MORE striking results of the Obama administration's first six months is that only one country has worse relations with the United States than it did in January: Israel. The new administration has pushed a reset button with Russia and sent new ambassadors to Syria and Venezuela; it has... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Interrogations and Prosecution

IN APRIL, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. declared that it "would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department." He was speaking, of course, of CIA operatives and other government interrogators who... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Transparency at the central bank is a serious question.

THE FEDERAL Reserve Board's independence is a bit like the judiciary's independence. Absolutely vital for the institution's proper functioning, it nevertheless depends on Congress and the president to respect decisions with which they disagree. In such cases, the best protection for either the... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Senate must shoot down a concealed-weapons amendment.

THE GUNS-everywhere-guns-for-all crowd in Congress is at it again. This time it's Sen. John Thune's turn. The South Dakota Republican has attached an amendment to the Defense Department authorization bill that would create a national standard for carrying concealed weapons. Those who are permitted... Sign in to see full entry.

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