The news that Standard & Poor’s has decided to issue a warning that the US government’s AAA bond rating might be in some jeopardy if a deficit-reduction agreement isn’t reached should elicit several responses from sophisticated readers. My own threshold response is: Hey, weren’t you the same guys who gave AAA ratings to the repackaged [...]
When asked in 2008 at a campaign event whether he promised not to use signing statements, Obama said, simply, “Yes.” He followed up by describing the process of attaching a presidential interpretation to a bill at its signing into law as “not part of [the president's] power.” Since becoming president, Obama has used signing statements [...]
For months, Wall Street has been warning Washington not to play politics with the debt ceiling – the economic ramifications are just too great. Today, we got a glimpse of the doom and gloom to come if the debt ceiling isn’t passed: Standard & Poor’s lowered its U.S. credit outlook from “stable” to “negative.” As [...]
When Donald Trump called into Rush Limbaugh’s radio show on Friday he got things started on a striking note: by announcing he would donate $100,000 to Limbaugh’s annual “Leukemia/Lymphoma Cure-A-Thon” fundraising drive. Here’s a transcript:
Rana Foroohar reports some unsettling news: Is this the first domino in the next global financial crisis? It’s possible. Today the S & P revised its long-term credit rating outlook for the U.S. from “stable” to “negative.” The immediate result has been a flight from risky assets and anything linked to optimistic views on global [...]
–Associate Justice Robert Jackson, writing in United States v. Kahriger, 354 U.S. 22 in 1953. Just a thought for tax day.
National Review‘s Ramesh Ponnuru writes a level-headed and intellectually honest response to Paul Ryan’s critics on the left. He offers some useful food for thought on the policy details, including a reminder that Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform, which involved a shift to block grants, prompted dire warnings similar to those aimed at Ryan’s proposed [...]
The long-term fiscal picture of the U.S. government is all kinds of crazy—that seems to be the one thing everyone in Washington can agree to. A full examination of every budgetary delusion, fantasy and mania would require a tome the size of the Bible, so for now I want to look at just one madness: [...]
Amb. Douglas Kmiec has submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Kmiec was criticized in a State IG report (pdf) for spending too much time and embassy resources on private writing and outside events. Now, the AP reports, Kmiec will step down in August.
