Some Wishes for the Next Decade
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on January 8th, 2010 5:31 am by HL
Some Wishes for the Next Decade
William Galston, The New Republic
I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade–W. H. Auden, “September 1, 1939”It’s official: For the United States, the Naughts were a lost decade–zero job creation, declining household net worth, and the slowest GDP growth (by far) since the 1930s. And yet, Americans remain remarkably optimistic. In a just-released Gallup poll, 63 percent think the next 20 years will be good ones for the country—down from higher levels in 1990 and 2000, to be sure, but noticeably higher than…
Can Obama Change — and Keep His Nerve?
Michael Barone, DC Examiner
A year ago, I was privileged to be one of several guests at a dinner with President-elect Barack Obama. One thing that struck me and others, aside from his courtesy and fluency, was his air of self-confidence. The man who had risen in just four years from state senator to president of the United States seemed sure he could master the job.I wonder if he is as sure now. It seems to me that two assumptions that Obama carried into the White House — assumptions that were shared by many who hadn't voted for him — have proved to be unfounded. Receive news alertsThe first is that economic…
What Does the Detroit Bomber Know?
Michael Mukasey, Wall St. Journal
There was much to celebrate in the providential combination of an incompetent terrorist and surpassingly brave passengers and crew who saved 288 people aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 on Christmas Day. There is a lot less to applaud in the official reaction. Well-deserved mockery has already been heaped on the move-along-folks-nothing-to-see-here tone of the administration's initial pronouncements—from Janet Napolitano's “the system worked,” to President Obama's statement that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was an “isolated extremist.” This week…
PC Amateur Hour
George Neumayr, The American Spectator
The Founding Fathers set up a limited federal government. Statists have turned it into an unlimited one, eager to perform any and all superfluous tasks while neglecting core ones. That security debacles, both large and small, increasingly define the Obama administration is to be expected given his frivolous and excessive view of the federal government. Perhaps Janet Napolitano spoke more truly than she realized when she said that the “system worked.” The problem is not that the system failed; it's that a failed system is in place, and the Obama administration…
Obama Reneges on Health Care Transparency
Chip Reid, CBS News
