Solyndra Scandal Reeks of Chicago Way
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 19th, 2011 4:31 am by HL
Solyndra Scandal Reeks of Chicago Way
John Kass, Chicago Tribune
The Solyndra scandal cost at least a half-billion public dollars. It is plaguing President Barack Obama. And it's being billed as a Washington story.But back in Obama's political hometown, those of us familiar with the Chicago Way can see something else in Solyndra — something that the Washington crowd calls “optics.” In fact, it's not just a Washington saga — it has all the elements of a Chicago City Hall story, except with more zeros.
What Went Wrong With Obama’s Brain Trust?
Tim Cavanaugh, Reason
Tim Cavanaugh | September 15, 2011As President Barack Obama's $447 billion American Jobs Act of 2011 fails to win public support, some are saying the bill is doomed by the failure of the president's $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). But what if the Obama fiscal stimulus, and the much broader and deeper monetary stimulus that the Federal Reserve has been providing, actually succeeded? There aren't too many takers for that claim. In a Bloomberg poll, only 36 percent of Americans approve of Obama's efforts to create jobs. New York Times…
Obama Can Fire His Staff. So Should He?
Matt Bai, New York Times
WASHINGTON "” He has probably been quoted more than any pundit on the planet since 1992 (which, by the way, was the last time he actually won an American campaign), but when James Carville opens his mouth, Democrats still tend to listen. And so it got a lot of people talking this week when Mr. Carville, in an open letter to President Obama on CNN's Web site, urged the struggling president to follow the example of some of his predecessors and just fire a bunch of people. Critics on the left fear that William M. Daley, Mr. Obama's chief of staff, is too…
Cynicism, the GOP’s Most Destructive Weapon
Robert Reich, Salon
According to the latest ABC New/Washington Post poll, 77 percent of Americans say they “feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track” in this country. That's the highest percentage since January, 2009.No surprise. The economy is almost as rotten now as it was two years ago. And, yes, this poses a huge risk to President Obama's reelection, as it does to congressional Democrats.But the truly remarkable thing is how little faith Americans have in government to set things right. This cynicism poses an even bigger challenge to Obama and the Democrats — and…
What If the Secret to Success Is Failure?
Paul Tough, NY Times Magazine
Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. Dominic Randolph can seem a little out of place at Riverdale Country School — which is odd, because he’s the headmaster. Riverdale is one of New York City’s most prestigious private schools, with a 104-year-old campus that looks down grandly on Van Cortlandt Park from the top of a steep hill in the richest part of the Bronx. On the discussion boards of UrbanBaby.com, worked-up moms from the Upper East Side argue over whether Riverdale sends enough seniors to Harvard, Yale and Princeton to be considered truly…
