Steve Chapman looks at how President Obama’s big government binge is alienating moderate and independent voters who helped elect him http://www.reason.com/news/show/135769.html
Archive for August, 2009
Obama Hits Anti-Government Nerves
Monday, August 31st, 2009Fed Official Admits 16% Unemployment
Monday, August 31st, 2009The real number of unemployed in the United States is far more than the federal government’s official count and the recovery could be long and tenuous, a Federal Reserve official told the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Area Chamber of Commerce last week in a speech that received some media attention.
“If one considers the people who would like a job but have stopped looking — so-called discouraged workers — and those who are working fewer hours than they want, the unemployment rate would move from the official 9.4 percent to 16 percent,” explained the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Dennis Lockhart.
Full article by Alex Newman @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/economy/sectors-mainmenu-46/1784
Ted Kennedy and the Death (Hopefully) of an Era
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009Nick Gillespie looks at the Senate career of Ted Kennedy – a master strategist who helped Democrats and Republicans expand the power of the federal government. Find out what you will be paying for the rest of your life @ http://www.reason.com/news/show/135658.html
Remembering Chappaquidick
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009If you need help, The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a file @ http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/chappaquiddick.htm
Nothing good can come from an alliance between big government and big medicine.
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009“In his war against terrorism, President George W. Bush declared a simple, binary formula to judge the world: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” Now, Obama and the Democratic leadership have borrowed the same formula to draw the battle lines over health care reform, dividing the country into those who are for ObamaCare and those who are evil-mongers.”
“But the entities that will be most injurious to the nation’s health are not so much in the evil-mongers’ group but the first group, including the American Medical Association–a doctors’ cartel that has controlled the medical labor market in the U.S. like its personal fiefdom for a century. Instead of “palling up” with it, President Obama should do everything in his power to break its choke-hold and bring physician salaries–among the biggest drivers of health care costs–back down to Earth.”
Shikha Dalmia takes on the AMA in Forbes Magazine @ http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/25/american-medical-association-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html
Abolish the DHS
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009“Tom Ridge gave the standard resignation line when he stepped down as Secretary of Homeland Security shortly after the 2004 elections, but last week he revealed that there was much more to the story.”
“In a forthcoming book, Ridge complains that the weekend before Election Day, Bush administration officials leaned on him to raise the color-coded threat level. Dismayed, Ridge refused the demand, and concluded he needed to resign. “I wondered,” Ridge writes, “Is this about security or politics?” ”
“That’s a question we ought to ask about DHS as a whole. Since its creation in 2003, the department has done little to provide genuine security and much to encourage a pernicious politics of fear. We’d be better off without it.”
Full Column by Gene Healy @ http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10480
Court Orders Fed to Disclose Emergency Bank Loans
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve must for the first time identify the companies in its emergency lending programs after losing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Manhattan Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled against the central bank yesterday, rejecting the argument that loan records aren’t covered by the law because their disclosure would harm borrowers’ competitive positions.
Full report from Bloomberg Financial @ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7CC61ZsieV4
The Private Sector and the future of Space Exploration
Friday, August 21st, 2009“With delays in the manned space program that have pushed the development of NASA’s replacement for the shuttle to 2015, the future of the space agency is at a crossroads. One possible direction that could be chosen leads toward the private sector…”
Full column by James Heiser @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/tech-mainmenu-30/space/1706
Baby Bush: The Worst President in History?
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009Doug Casey makes the case against “W” @ http://www.lewrockwell.com/casey/casey16.1.html
The Era of Big Government Initiatives Is Over
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009“Seven months ago, President Barack Obama took office with a 79 percent approval rating — the highest in three decades.”
“The Kennedy-esque cult of personality that surrounded the new president led many conservatives and libertarians to fear he’d be able to work his will in Congress, dramatically increasing the size of government.”
“Yet, cap and trade has dropped off this year’s legislative agenda and today Obama’s signature initiative — national health care — remains stalled, growing more unpopular by the minute.”
Column by Gene Healy @ http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10463