On the road to reform
In clicking around news sites, the only stories available were ones associated with Egypt and it’s reform. No shocker there. Today, on Friday 11, Egypt’s military has taken over the country. As Cairo protesters gathered in Tahrir square, Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement of Mubarak’s resignation. Yes, the people are now free, but I am wondering how the U.S. will step in to mend the damage and prepare what will soon be a democracy. Now that Mubarak has left the stand, Washington has publicly called for an “Egyptian transition to democracy.” Of course, another dictatorial rule would lead the country into another ambiguous future. After going through a rigorous course of World History…
A lack of business
Chris Cummins Staff Writer In another pro-business move, President Obama has appointed Jeffrey Immelt, a former GE Executive, as his chief Outside Economic Advisor. Intended eradicate the anti-business reputation he has gained throughout the years. In recent years, the President has become somewhat of a boogeyman for business groups, and been tagged as someone who “hates” business, due to the tone and stance he displayed towards some of America’s most esteemed companies. Among his other moves intended to allay the reputation he has made include scheduling a major address to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and appointing a former JP Morgan Chase Executive, William Daley, as chief of staff. In recent years, the president has…
Obama goes back to Washington
Chris Cummins Staff Writer Obama’s much-heralded move to the center has occurred. A day ago, Democrats accepted the new balance of power in the House and Senate, and passed the Bush-era tax cuts. Coming at a time when the president’s power is at an all time low, the passage of a compromise bill is perhaps but the first sign of Obama’s turn to the center. Passed at midnight, the bill extends tax cuts for both the rich and the middle class that George W. Bush passed as part of his eight years in office. The reason the bill was subject to such scrutiny because it is a watershed moment in the new 111th Congress. The…
Bill and Barack
Chris Cummins Staff Writer Today, Bill Clinton held a press conference to throw his support behind President Obama’s tax bill. That sentence is about the most telling, and accuate summation of Mr. Obama’s presidency, in it’s own way. Mr. Obama has spent these first two years of his term alienating those in the center, first with the crude passage of the health care bill, and those in the left, with his unwillingness to churn out reliably left wing legislation, and with his agreeing to compromise on the tax cuts and similar right wing legislation. With the recent midterm election results, in which the Democratic party lost the House and their majority in the Senate was lessened, it seeemed…
Black TEA, white TEA
by Blake Seitz Many on the Left have tried hard to marginalize and villify the TEA Party, and to distort its aims and goals. They claim Tea Partiers are backwoods hicks or else whitewashed suburbanites; they claim Tea Partiers are uneducated, bigoted, and angry. For a while, I believed this. I saw a few signs and a few screaming, ruddy-faced activists. I wrote the movement off as populism at its worst, and even conceded that racism might be a motivating factor behind its actions. No more. As coverage–and debate–has intensified around the Tea Party, it has become clear to me that the movement’s motives are pure. The Tea Party is fusionism at its finest: libertarians…
An arm and a leg: the true cost of health reform
by Blake Seitz In the words of famous free-market economist Milton Friedman, “there’s no such thing as a free meal.” It’s time to apply this common-sense logic to health care reform. The Obama administration claims the final health care package will extend coverage to 32 million formally-uninsured Americans. They also claim the bill will reduce the federal deficit by a significant amount. If we are to take their word for it, they have authored the ultimate health care panacea—a system that greatly expands coverage and remains cost-effective. I take exception to this second claim. At face value, it seems substantiated: in March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored the bill as reducing the deficit by $143…
Health care odds pegged at 51%
The Obama White House calculated that the chances of health care passing in Congress lies at 51%, the narrowest of margins. Speculation has been wild concerning various Congressmen and where their allegiences will lie when it comes to a vote, and both sides, Democrat and Republican, have come forward with evidence that their position is the strongest. Despite the numbers released above, momentum is still with the GOP following the surprise election of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Conservative pundits have seen Brown’s election–his campaign revolved around the health care issue–as a popular rejection of Obama’s liberal health plans. Democrats, meanwhile, have seen glimmers of hope in recent studies by liberal focus groups, which show voters consider change (forward motion) more…
Health summit a war of attrition
There was no progress at the bipartisan health care summit today, although no one was really expecting any. I predicted a political slug-fest in this post two weeks ago, and it would seem I was correct. Both Republicans and Democrats have used the televised summit to beat each other over the heads with their own talking points. Democrats have attempted to label the GOP as obstructionist, and Republicans have accused Democrats of acting against the will of the nation. Some speculate that, because of the lack of cooperation, Democrats will attempt to push the bill through the Senate by a process known as reconciliation, which only requires bills have 51 votes to pass. Commentators, who…
Health care summit a battle of wills
President Obama announced days ago he was planning a televised summit on health care. The summit would seek bipartisan solutions to the health care problem, but its creation seems a strictly partisan move in and of itself. Obama has publicized the move intensely in the past few days, going so far as to appear in an interview before the Super Bowl concerning the summit. This is a carefully crafted move against the Republicans–Obama wants the American public to see the GOP as obstructionist. He will succeed if the Republicans refuse his invitation, because the public (106 million watched the Super Bowl and, by extension, Obama’s promotion of the summit) would know about it. Republicans have held out on the summit thus far, calling…
GlobalPulse: Weekly Update
By Angela Almeida Opinions Editor United States: President Barack Obama will make his State of the Union address tonight. He plans to tackle health care worries and appease Americans concerns about the recession. According to a number of POLITICO analysts, however, this speech could actually hurt the president’s approval rating, given what the addresses have done to president’s in the past. It will air at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. Central. Middle East: Pakistan is being profiled full force by VICE for its booming gun black market. In the tribal areas of Pakistan, deemed “the most dangerous place in the world”, millions of guns and ammunition are allegedly being stowed away and bought by the Pakistani army. Asia:…