Ahh, the children and grandchildren. Politicians love to describe how big-bad Washington is robbing them blind. “Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren,” then Sen. Barack Obama declared in 2006, when he voted against raising the debt ceiling. “Passing on ever-increasing debt to our children [...]
I try not to start arguments with people who are way smarter than me, especially when we’re basically on the same side of an issue, but in my part-time capacity as Ben Bernanke’s English translator, I feel compelled to point out that Ezra Klein’s take on the Fed chairman’s press conference is wrong. Bernanke did [...]
–Senator Rand Paul.
Thompson considers whether the CIA Director, former OMB chief and ex-House budget chairman can effectively wield the knife at the Pentagon:
The Easter recess hasn’t been restful for Republican congressmen in swing districts. Within minutes of beginning his presentation at an Orlando town hall Tuesday, freshman Rep. Dan Webster was cut off by angry constituents. Irked by Webster’s vote for Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, they heckled and booed the congressman, touching off a chaotic confrontation with [...]
Weak growth (as expected) in the first quarter: The economy grew at a 1.8% annual rate. Incoming Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s central challenge at the Pentagon will be the budget. With increasing military and intelligence overlap, David Petraeus’ selection for the CIA might be explained in one word: Pakistan. From the magazine: Bart Gellman on FBI Director Mueller, 10 [...]
In the Federal Reserve’s first press conference in 32 years, Chairman Ben Bernanke today announced…nothing. He didn’t exactly say nothing. But he basically said that despite the weak economy, he’s decided to do nothing. And the more he talked, the more it sounded like he intends to keep doing nothing for the foreseeable future. It [...]
The news that the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, appear to have reconciled may be a very big deal. Or perhaps not. Hamas and Fatah have been at each other’s throats since the 2006 elections. Blood has been shed on both sides. And a full reconciliation won’t really have taken place until there [...]
Newt Gingrich was a featured speaker at this morning’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, an annual event in Washington that traditionally draws (Republican) politicians looking to court conservative Catholics. Much of the breakfast was focused on the biggest news in the Catholic world this week–the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II this Sunday. Gingrich’s speech [...]
–Karl Sinclair, son of Dr. David Sinclair, the attending physician listed on President Obama’s long-form birth certificate, reacting to the news that his father’s name appears on the now-public document.
