National - Friday, March 27, 2009 8:00 - 0 Comments
House Republicans Want To Nationalize Banks
“Wait, what?”
That’s what I said when I saw this piece on TPM quoting the just released House Republican “budget” alternative (quotes around budget because it doesn’t actually provide any numbers. Lol. Read this for a great laugh.) But take a look at this:
[O]ur plan supports a process to address insolvent institutions that stops throwing good money after bad into failing institutions and places insolvent ones into temporary receivership. … For insolvent firms, either the FDIC or a Resolution Trust Corporation-type entity would restructure these firms in receivership by selling off their assets and liabilities, reappointing private management, while protecting depositors — a process that builds off Washington Mutual’s arranged sale last year.
They call for a stress test and then placing any zombie banks into recievership (i.e. nationalizing them). Wow. I’d guess they’re just trying to find any way to go against the administration’s plans, but I have to say (and I haven’t said it in a while), I think the Republicans are right on this one.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Barrybar.
On Campus - Wednesday, March 25, 2009 10:51 - 18 Comments
Watch British PM Gordon Brown Speak At NYU Today
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and former Chairman of the Fed Paul Volcker are gathered at Kimmel today to discuss “such pressing issues as global economic structures and policies, the challenges of climate change, and the need for cooperative approaches to security.” If you aren’t (or are!) in class and you want to watch, you can stream the discussion here.
I will be here liveblogging all of the action. This is my 2nd liveblog from Kimmel. Heh. Blog after the jump.
National - Tuesday, March 24, 2009 18:54 - 1 Comment
Obama Press Conference Liveblog: I <3 Tim Geithner
National - Monday, March 23, 2009 8:38 - 0 Comments
Dick Cheney is Still Dick Cheney
You might have missed it while you were packing to head home for spring break, but about a week ago Dick Cheney had an exclusive interview with John King of CNN.
That’s him above, accusing Obama of making Americans less safe by rolling back some of the worst abuses of the Bush administration. Elsewhere, he fretted over what he considered excessive government expansion in response to the recession.
Continue…
National - Thursday, March 12, 2009 13:14 - 5 Comments
Republican National Committee Chairman Circling The Drain
It’s starting to look like the RNC’s very first black chairman will also end up having a pretty short tenure. And it’s really not a huge mystery why. Eric Kleefeld brings us the Michael Steele Comedy Hour’s greatest hits:
• Promised a new “off the hook” image for the Republican Party, appealing to “hip-hop settings.”
• Gone back and forth on threatening to cut off financial support for pro-stimulus Republicans, and attracted criticism from Senators for doing so.
• And of course, he disassociated himself from Rush Limbaugh, was then attacked by Limbaugh, and then apologized to Limbaugh and praised his leadership. And he was later denounced by Joe The Plumber.
Yikes.
Continue…
National - Monday, March 9, 2009 11:57 - 1 Comment
Republicans Temporarily Inconvenience Federal Government, Declare Victory
The above is John McCain going all Howard Beale over the fact that the $410 billion omnibus spending bill needed to keep the federal government running has thousands of earmarks attached to it. Last week, McCain and the rest of the Republican caucus managed to delay its passage, although McCain himself admits that it will probably pass this week anyway. And rightfully so–earmarks or no earmarks, we sort of need a federal government, and a federal government needs cash. I sincerely doubt forcing a temporary government shutdown like what happened in ‘95 is on the table. And besides, earmarking is a bipartisan racket–plenty of Republicans are going to want to see that money flowing to their districts once the required grandstanding is out of the way.
Continue…
National - Friday, March 6, 2009 6:00 - 3 Comments
Obama Covering for Bush’s Abuse of Power
Oh, NYU Local. I wish I knew how to quit you.
Since Lucas Pattan’s moved on to become editor of On Campus (congratulations, Luke!), I’m going to be filling his slot on the National team and writing for the site a couple times a week again. It’s good to be back.
Anyway, on to business: My beat for most of my time as National editor was the slow-motion implosion of conservatism in general and the Republican Party specifically, so the obvious topic for my first comeback post would be Rush Limbaugh’s tragicomic ascension to de facto leader of the GOP. But that’s a pretty easy target, and Suri already did a good job of covering it. So instead, I want to talk about one of the most important, but oft-ignored problems facing American democracy right now. If it’s not corrected soon, then the damage could very well be permanent; and in this case, President Obama’s hurting more than he’s helping.
Continue…
National - Thursday, March 5, 2009 16:18 - 6 Comments
Rush Is Just A Symptom
The Republican party has really fallen on hard times. Last week, the annual movement meeting, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), took place in Washington. I attended the event last year and was really surprised about the optimism and enthusiasm the crowd maintained at a time when Bush was facing hideous favorability ratings and Democrats were poised to win the White House and make substantial gains in Congress. John McCain was widely booed and Mitt Romney won the straw poll even as he withdrew his name from contention during the conference.
This year? Romney won again. Yeesh. And, notably, 95% of the crowd disapproved of Obama’s performance thus far.
But if you listen to commentators discuss why the party is failing to resonate with voters and is totally lost in the woods, you don’t hear about the fact that its “leaders” still pander to its rabid CPAC base, push anti-government rhetoric in a time when we need strong government more than ever, or advocate bad economic ideas. Nope. They think the problem is…Rush Limbaugh? Continue…
National - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 6:00 - 2 Comments
RNC Chairman Steele Criticizes Limbaugh, Then Wusses Out
Power over the Republican party lies firmly in the hands of one man – Rush Limbaugh. The conservative radio host received a public apology from Michael Steele after the new RNC chairman criticized Limbaugh in an interview Saturday night.
Steele got a little territorial on CNN when asked about Limbaugh’s role in the GOP. Steele strove to make it clear that he – and not Rush Limbaugh – was in charge of the Republican party. Steele put Limbaugh “into context” by calling him “an entertainer.” Steele said, “Rush Limbaugh – his whole thing is entertainment. Yes it’s incendiary, yes it’s ugly.” Continue…
National - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 17:33 - 12 Comments
Obama Vs. Jindal
Last night, President Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress that basically reaffirmed his commitment to fixing the economy, the healthcare system, energy policy, the education system, and Social Security. He was, as we’ve come to expect, eloquent and engaging while explaining the complex problems facing our country and his plans to fix them. It wasn’t a barn-burner nor was it meant to be. He just took the time to explain the rationale behind his policy prescriptions. Quite refreshing after Bush.
And then Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivered the “GOP response” speech. It was an awful train wreck. Continue…
