Thomas R. Eddlem
Geithner as Buzz Lightyear on National Debt: To Infinity, and Beyond
President Obama's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has embraced the “Buzz Lightyear” debt strategy to overcome the fiscal crisis known as the “fiscal cliff”: to infinity and beyond. Geithner told host Al Hunt on Bloomberg TV's Political Capital on November 16 that he favors elimination of the statutory debt limit.
What to Expect From the New Congress
The party numbers are pretty much the same, but the congressional Democrats are far more liberal, and the Republicans are much closer to traditional constitutionalism.
Unhappy Veterans Day: Court Rules Veteran May Not Sue His Gov't Torturers
U.S. Navy Veteran Donald Vance and fellow FBI informant Nathan Ertel are not entitled to sue their U.S. government torturers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh District ruled November 9. Both Vance and Ertel are native-born U.S. citizens.
As private contractors in Iraq in 2006, Vance and Ertel witnessed U.S. soldiers trading bullets for alcohol, and volunteered to become FBI undercover informants to stop the leak of weapons to the Taliban. But while in Iraq, the two men found that their cover had been blown, and were “rescued” by the U.S. military. But the U.S. military then arrested them, and threw them in Camp Cropper in Iraq, where they were tortured.
The Ron Paul Revolution Moves to Congress
Libertarian-leaning Republican Congressman Ron Paul lost his bid for the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year, but a number of his acolytes ran for Congress as Republicans and won November 6. Is Congress the real location of the growing “Ron Paul revolution”?
Obama Reelected, Democrats Keep Senate, GOP Keeps House
President Obama was reelected by the Electoral College after Tuesday's election, also winning the popular vote by around 2.6 million votes. Democrats will keep control of the U.S. Senate, and Republicans keep control of the House of Representatives.
Boston Fed Chairman Calls for More Inflation, Even If It Doesn't Help Economy
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and CEO Eric S. Rosengren told a Babson College audience November 1 he favored the Federal Reserve continuing QE3 policies at least until unemployment falls below the 7.25 percent marker, even if the policies fail to stop another recessionary spike in unemployment.
Desperation: Rep. DeFazio's Campaign Engages in Political “Identity Theft”
Oregon liberal Congressman Peter DeFazio has long posed as a congressional champion of political campaign “reform,” but faced with his first serious reelection effort in more than a decade, the desperate 13-term incumbent Democrat's official campaign has jettisoned political transparency — and federal law — by putting up billboards that pose as his rival, Access to Energy publisher and Republican nominee Dr. Art Robinson.
CNN: Obama Deficit Math Doesn't Add Up
Erin Burnett took only four minutes on October 23 to destroy the Obama administration's claim that the President's budget plan would eliminate $4 trillion in deficit spending over the next decade, a CNN television segment that sent the Obama campaign into damage control mode for the past week.
“Bayonet” Policy: Obama and Romney Debate, Peace Candidates Blacked Out
President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney engaged in a nationally televised foreign policy debate Monday, October 22, and agreed to continue aggressive American military involvement around the world.
Presidential Debate: Obama More Combative, No Gaffes, No "Winner"
Both Democrat and Republican spin-meisters are claiming victory for their candidate in the October 16 Presidential town hall-format debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, a contest noted for its lack of gaffes by President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.