National Politics
… and not so much a pure, reach-across-the-aisle spirit is the basis for President Obama’s selection of our next ambassador to China, The Corner’s Jay Nordlinger has concluded. I have had a line for some years now: Just as China is a one-party state, America is a one-party state, where China policy is concerned. There…
For the record, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s subcommittee hearing on the use of torture and harsh interrogation techniques following the 2001 terror attacks has been chugging along this week. This is necessary to note because one of its potential star witnesses has sucked much of the p.r. oxygen out of the hearing room with her energetic…
Mama’s, don’t let your kids grow up to be bureaucrats: Last week the Department of Labor reported that employers shed a net 539,000 jobs in the first three months of 2009, bringing the nation’s unemployment rate to 8.9%. The manufacturing sector lost 149,000 jobs, business services lost 122,000 jobs, and construction lost 110,000 jobs. All…
Dave Cribbin, quoted in yesterday’s WSJ: In the Chrysler deal, the [United Auto Workers] were unsecured creditors and the Chrysler bondholders were secured creditors. The bondholders received 28% of the value of their $6.9 billion in bonds in cash; the Union will receive stock worth approximately $4.2 billion, and a note for an additional $4.58…
So, Senator Whitehouse is pretty proud that he’s finally getting a chance to question Bush Administration lawyers about “torture memos.” I wonder if he’s interested in questioning members of Congress, particularly House Speaker Pelosi, about what I’m sure Whitehouse would consider a lack of oversight of the program?
Check out the video. ADDENDUM The original Reagan ad.
Although he isn’t speaking solely about our state, Theodore Gatchel’s op-ed, Sunday, presents a worthy reminder that taxation is not the only government burden that must decrease in Rhode Island: The idea held by many politicians and government bureaucrats that simply passing a new law or issuing a new regulation will solve a problem is…
Senator Arlen Specter says it all in just a single sentence: “I am not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate — not prepared to have that record decided by that jury,” he said. After three decades in the federal government, the folks who’ve…
Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has become a Democrat. Many view this as only a change of label, but it could have a significant impact nonetheless. As you may all be painfully aware, card-check legislation is pending in Washington. If passed, it would eliminate the secret ballot for workers and give unions the ability to knock…
Vincent Bzdek contacted me requesting a comment for a Patrick Kennedy profile related to mental health parity that he was beginning to write for the Washington Post back in early December. Well, it looks like he and the editors decided to go with the “no criticism” angle. To be sure, the following would have stood…