Posts Tagged ‘Politics’
September 3rd, 2010 by John Feehery
Only in America could gang-bangers have a press conference and complain about police harassment.
That is exactly what several members of some of Chicago’s most violent gangs did yesterday.
On the same day that President Obama’s Justice Department sued an Arizona Sheriff for harassing illegal immigrants, gang kingpins met with the press to say that the cops don’t give them enough respect.
Here is what CBS news reported on the subject:
Self-identified gang leaders hold a news conference in Chicago, Sept. 2. 2010. (CBS)
“At a news conference organized by self-identified gang members Thursday morning, several speakers complained that police and city officials do not respect them, and that the only way to curb violence is to provide jobs and improve their community. The self-described current and former gang members held a news conference at the Columbus Park Refectory, at 5701 W. Jackson Blvd. on the city’s West Side. “You say it’s gangs, drugs and guns. We say we need jobs, opportunities and contracts,” said Reginald Akeem Berry Sr., who identified himself as a former gang member. “That’s the resolution.”
But is that really the resolution? How can jobs be created in parts of Chicago that are more violent that Baghdad or Kabul? Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Chicago, Democrats, Drugs, Obama, Politics
Posted in Drugs in America, Government, Media, Politics, Theory | No Comments »
August 3rd, 2010 by John Feehery
President Obama loves to mock Congressional Republicans as the gang that drove the economy into the ditch. Congressional Republicans love to attack President Obama as the guy who is seeking to make America a “socialist” country.
Many wonder how these two sides would work together should Republicans regain power in Congress this November. Will it be partisan warfare 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Will such a result lead to Washington D.C. style gridlock, where neither side can move an inch in either direction? Will the Republicans be able to return to Bush-economics, as the President hints? Will they be able to repeal the President’s health care bill as they promise on the campaign trail?
In fact, it is my theory, that President Obama and Congressional Republicans could have a productive, if unlikely, partnership that could move the country forward on several different fronts in the next Congress.
Here are the five issues that I think could be fertile ground for compromise next year should the Republicans retake the Congress: Read more...
Tags: bar, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats, GOP, Government, Politics, Republicans
Posted in Politics | No Comments »
July 1st, 2010 by John Feehery
To paraphrase Pink Floyd, “desperation is the Obama way.”
The President and his Democratic colleagues are desperate to find any angle to try to change the course of the coming election.
Yesterday, Mr. Obama sharply criticized House Minority Leader John Boehner for using the word “ant.” Seriously.
Mr. Boehner said earlier in the week that the financial reform package supported by the President was like “killing an ant with a nuclear weapon.” An interesting analysis of this legislation is that it will likely stunt job growth, hurt investments and put government firmly in the middle of Wall Street.
Boehner’s comments were not outrageous. They weren’t scandalous. They weren’t provocative. But the President’s people, hoping upon hope that they could find any issue to get on offense, immediately launched an attack.
“Boehner likens financial crisis to an ant!!!” they claimed breathlessly.
“Boehner calls the meltdown small,” they strongly implied, because, well, ants are small.
The DNC immediately produced a commercial, as they often do, featuring a bunch of ants running around.
If this is the best they have got, boy oh boy, they are in trouble. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, election, Government, House Minority Leader, Joe Barton, John Boehner, Politics, Republicans, White House
Posted in GOP, Government, Politics | No Comments »
June 10th, 2010 by John Feehery
Greece / Photo credit: Ulamm
In actuality, there isn’t much in common between the United States and the Greeks.
That was the conclusion of a distinguished panel of economists hosted by the American Action Forum and led by former CBO director Doug Holtz-Eakin.
But if we don’t get our act together soon, things could get steadily worse for the economy and for the American people, and while we probably won’t default on our debt (because we can always print more money), it won’t be very pleasant around here unless we start making some fundamental changes
Senator Judd Gregg, a longtime deficit hawk and current ranking member of the upper chamber’s Budget Committee, keynoted the forum, wryly pointing out in his presentation that western Democracies founded on the Scottish Enlightenment philosophy of free market capitalism and representative government (which, of course, would include the UK, the US, and Japan) are having the hardest time dealing with debt.
Totalitarian regimes, like the Chinese and the Cubans, don’t have our debt problems, because in the case of the Chinese, they work hard and have a government that is immune to public opinion, and in the case of the Cubans, nobody sane would lend the large amounts of money in the first place. Read more...
Tags: Andy Busch, china, Cuba, Dean Baker, Debt, doug holtz eakin, Government, Greece, health care, judd gregg, Politics, spending
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, health care, spending | 2 Comments »
June 1st, 2010 by John Feehery
By far, the most respected institution in America today is the military. Polls show that people trust the military more than the Congress, the President, major corporations, the Church, Hollywood, the Postal service, and just about anything else you can think of.
Our troops are currently fighting two big wars (one in Afghanistan, the other in Iraq) and a bunch of smaller little conflicts around the globe. The President recently deployed 1,500 National Guardsman to the Southwestern border to help fight illegal immigration, over the objections of Republicans, who wanted to triple the number. Some want the military to help fight the battle against the Gulf Oil spill. Others want to call out the troops to help secure inner cities racked by violence (more specifically, Chicago).
When you go to a baseball game in Washington, D.C. (and I assume around the country), wounded warriors are introduced to standing ovations after the fourth inning (usually). Read more...
Tags: America flags, Barack Obama, Chicago, Memorial Day, Politics, Republicans, summer, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Posted in Bad Decisions, Government, Politics, election | No Comments »
May 27th, 2010 by John Feehery
Planet getting eaten (Credit: ESA/C Carreau)
I was watching television this morning and CNN was alternating between video of the great Gulf leak and a video from the Hubble telescope of a planet getting eaten by a bigger star.
So, the message is if we don’t all kill ourselves, well, then a big star is going to eat us all any way.
On that cheery note, let me add another.
America is doomed. At least, that is the message that we get all too often from both the left and the right.
We are going broke. Our workforce isn’t competitive. People in the rest of the world hate us. We can’t plug the damn hole. We have too many immigrants coming into this country. Crime is too high. Our military is stretched too far. We are too fat. We are too old. We are too young.
And of course, we better all start speaking Chinese soon, because the Chinese are so rich, they work so hard, they are so smart, and there are so many of them, that we really can’t compete. America is doomed.
Really? Put me down as an America-is-doomed skeptic. Read more...
Tags: Al Gore, Barack Obama, Brazil, china, Chinese, Christian right, Conservatives, Economy, Europe, India, Politics, poor, Tea Party, Tom Friedman, USA, WASP-12b
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, Foreign Relations, GOP, Government, Politics, Theory | 2 Comments »
May 26th, 2010 by John Feehery
Photo credit: Henry Brisse
In 2005, Paramount released a movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz called The Constant Gardener.
This post has absolutely nothing to do with that movie.
I was thinking about gardening when I was sweeping up the berries from my neighbor’s obnoxious tree, which spews smelly, ugly, messy berries every spring.
Like gardening, it requires constant work to keep my back patio clean.
To be a successful gardener (and believe me, I am not a successful gardener), you have to be constantly working to keep the flowers properly watered and pruned. You also have to constantly work to fight off the weeds. If you don’t, the weeds will eventually take over the garden, and the garden will be lost.
This isn’t a column about gardening. It is a column about government growth.
Like a garden, the government requires constant pruning. The weeds of government (or wasteful, Washington spending) can take over the whole government if there isn’t a constant gardener who is working to prune and cut and pull out the bad spending.
But there isn’t a constant gardener in the federal government, whose sole job is to get rid of wasteful spending. Read more...
Tags: Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Economy, General Accountability Office, K Street, Lobbyist, Office of Management and Budget, Politics, spending
Posted in Government, Politics, Theory, spending | No Comments »
May 24th, 2010 by John Feehery
Tags: Arlen Specter, business as usual, illegal, Joe Sestak, Politics, Primary elections, Tea Party, Washington, White House
Posted in Government, Media, Politics, corruption, election | No Comments »
May 16th, 2010 by John Feehery
Tags: Conservatives, election, GOP, Government, Politics, Republicans, Sarah Palin
Posted in Media, Politics, Theory, election | 1 Comment »
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