Tomorrow marks the 100th day of Obama’s presidency.
As someone who worked on his campaign from February 2007 up through election day, I still have a hard time believing he won. Obama began his campaign primarily as the anti-war candidate, the Washington outsider who would power-wash the government of corruption and secrecy with…change.
Those commentators and students of politics who know how Washington functioned worried a bit about how Obama was going to enact this sweeping reform if elected. Was he going to pull a Carter and attempt to completely sideline Congress? Emulate Bill Clinton and pitch heated battles with Republicans? Fortunately it doesn’t look like Republicans are going to stage any kind of revolution akin to 1994 beyond marching around with signs, so Obama is probably safe on that front. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of Obama’s first 100 Days: Read more…
Janet Napolitano, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, issued a warning earlier this week regarding right-wing extremist groups. The report’s introduction states, “The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.”
According to The Washington Times, these right-wing radicals “may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration. After Republican and congressional outrage, DHS apologized, saying “Intelligence analysts…ignored objections by civil-liberties officials” before issuing the report.
This apology scares me more than the report itself. If there is actually a danger from right-wing or left-wing extremist groups, I would prefer the agency not hide it because of political pressures. Napolitano was in no way indicating that all Republicans were extreme, nor was she stating that military veterans would become unwarranted targets of surveillance. She was doing her job, issuing a report about threats to the American homeland. Read more…
April 15 is always a great day for Republicans because they can use people’s (warranted) frustration, anger and confusion with the IRS to score political points.
Yesterday conservative groups across the United States staged “TEA” parties, many of which drew upwards of 1,000 people. The “Taxed Enough Already” protests were aimed at drawing attention to the “excessive government spending and bailouts,” and were organized via Twitter and Facebook—apparently Republicans have finally realized the effectiveness of Obama’s modus operandi.
It’s a little hard to tell, based on the pictures, whether this was a populist movement spurred by angry taxpayers or a political opposition movement sponsored by Fox News. The protesters all seemed so delighted that other people showed up that they sort of forgot what they were there for. Read more…
Virginia is one of two states holding a gubernatorial election in 2009, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most interesting. The lone Republican candidate, State Attorney General Robert McDonnell, will face off with the Democrat who emerges in front after the June 3rd primary. The Democrats contending for that honor are State Senator Creigh Deeds, former state delegate Brian Moran and former DNC Chairman and chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign Terry McAuliffe.
This race is pretty tight according to most polls—which might not be saying much, since most people are still recovering from the presidential election. Based on the most recent Rasmussen poll, it looks like it is going to be a very close race. Current Governor Tim Kaine, a Democrat, has a 58% approval rating, and President Obama turned Virginia blue for the first time since 1964, but Virginia is still overwhelmingly Republican. How will this race be decided? Will African-Americans, who helped deliver the state to Obama, turn out for a governor’s race? Will Virginia continue in its role as a swing state? Read more…
Iowa is pretty much one of the best states in the country. The Iowa caucuses are a vital threshold politicians must pass, as failed presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani can attest. Iowans are among the best educated Americans (take that Sidwell) and also live in one of the safest states, which explains why we haven’t seen CSI: Des Moines. Granted, this might be because the state’s population is barely over 3,000,000 people, less than half the population of New York City. Whatever.
The most recent event that puts Iowa even higher on the “cool” list is its recent declaration of marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples, placing it at an epic third on the list of states granting legal equality to all its citizens (Massachusetts and Connecticut are the other two). Read more…
The tea party ended as G20 protests turned violent in London on Wednesday. Thousands of protesters, angry that police blocked their planned route for safety reasons, broke the windows of an RBS branch near the Bank of England and chanted for the end of capitalism. Like most things in life, these protests can be related back to a Disney movie, in this instance Mary Poppins. In case you wondered where our stereotype of bankers came from, it’s here.
The oldest guy in the song, Mr. Dawes, the Chairman of the Bank, tries to convince Michael to invest his tuppence (which, by the way, actually still exists) with the bank. According to Dawes, “if you invest your tuppence wisely in the bank, safe and sound, soon that tuppence, safely invested in the bank, will compound,” and will be “prudently, fruitfully, frugally invested.” Clearly Bernie Madoff skipped this Disney classic. Read more…
Demonstrators have a tea party outside the Bank of England
Fate scheduled the G20 conference on April Fool’s Day this year, but the conference is no joke. The city of London will likely spend upwards of $10 million for security at the G20 conference including all the protest events. A wide range of different protests have taken place here over the last week, although I’m a bit confused as to what exactly they are protesting.
In the spirit of their former colonies, a small group of demonstrators had a tea party in front of the Bank of England today…not quite sure how this is protesting, but to each his own. When Marina Pepper, a tea party demonstrator, was asked why she was protesting, she said:
“We are here to reclaim elevenses…You used to have elevenses written in to your work contract, now you’re expected to drink tea at your desk and not spill it on your keyboard.”
Really? Tea breaks? She sounds like a hobbit in the Lord of the Rings. Forgive me for sounding dismissive, but asking for elevenses in the midst of the worst economic recession since the 1930s indicates a poor choice of priorities. Most laid off Detroit auto workers would be pretty angry if they heard a British protester discussing the need for tea breaks. Read more…
On Friday, President Obama endorsed Democrat Scott Murphy in the NY-20 Congressional election, the race that most of the nation doesn’t care about but is apparently the “first test” of Obama’s administration.
The television ad is paid for by the Democratic National Committee and began airing yesterday in this predominantly rural, traditionally Republican district. The endorsement consists of a picture of Obama next to a picture of Murphy and the text “President Obama supports Scott Murphy.” No video of friendly handshakes, no sultry Obama voiceover saying “I’m Barack Obama and I support Scott Murphy.” One wonders if they’ve even met. Obama also sent an email out to voters in the district asking them to support Murphy in the March 31st election, and Vice-President Joe Biden recorded a radio ad earlier this week. Read more…
On Monday, the Senate voted 72-14 to move ahead on the National Service Corps bill, known as GIVE - The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act (sometimes I think Congressional staff have too much fun with the acronyms).
According to opencongress.org, GIVE “would dramatically increase funding for AmeriCorps and other volunteer programs, including those for seniors and veterans. It also establishes a goal of expanding from 75,000 government-supported volunteers to 250,000, and would increase education funding and establish a summer service program for students, paying $500 (which would be applied to college costs) to high-school and middle-school student who participate.”
To be clear, the Senate has not passed the bill yet, but this procedural passage is a great sign that it will eventually become law. GIVE is a bipartisan-supported bill sponsored in part by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, although all 14 opponents of the bill were Republicans as well—I’m beginning to think the “No” button on Sam Brownback’s desk might be malfunctioning. Read more…
White House Review Suggests Karzai share power with second executive
This past weekend, the U.S. announced a broad change in its policy on the war in Afghanistan (remember that war?). The new plan is the result of the review of Afghanistan and Pakistan that President Obama ordered upon arriving in the White House, which will be detailed at a conference on March 31st. There are several new policies proposed by the review, but the one that will receive the most media attention (if the economy lets Afghanistan get a word in edgewise) is the decreasing power of Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan.
The U.S. and Europe agreed (for once) that a second chief executive with significant powers is needed in Kabul to ensure something productive occurred with the huge monetary investments made by the U.S. and NATO countries. The Guardian article described the new executive figure as “prime ministerial” and it is clear that the primary reason for this shift in policy is Karzai’s deep corruption. Rod Blagojevich looks like a five-and-dime thief compared to Karzai, who has held a leadership role in Afghanistan since 2001. Karzai’s promises to investigate ministerial corruption have not progressed at all, although perhaps that’s because government lawyers can’t afford the bribes Afghan judges are charging. Skyrocketing opium production also contributes to the cycle of corruption and serves as a money tree for the Taliban.
Putting a new chief executive alongside Karzai is making the best of an absolutely awful situation—there is no good or easy way to “fix” Afghanistan. Karzai has already announced he will “resist the dilution of his power,” and some diplomats worry that this will be seen as a vestige of imperialism.
While it’s certainly not a perfect plan, a strong leader who will bring stability to Afghanistan is the best chance we have at preventing the country from devolving into anarchy. The biggest problem is finding someone competent, honest and reform-minded to fill the leadership gap. Let’s not forget who rose to power the last time the U.S. screwed up in Afghanistan —Osama bin Laden.
Tomorrow marks the 100th day of Obama’s presidency.
Iowa is pretty much one of the best states in the country. The Iowa caucuses are a vital threshold politicians must pass, as failed presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani can attest. Iowans are among the best educated Americans (take that Sidwell) and also live in one of the safest states, which explains why we haven’t seen CSI: Des Moines. Granted, this might be because the state’s population is barely over 3,000,000 people, less than half the population of New York City. Whatever.
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