Democrats

A Pragmatic Solution To Prevent Unemployment – Two Scholars From Opposite Camps Offered It Jointly – A Rare Washington Example Of Co-operation To Solve A Public Policy Issue

Posted by on May 14, 2012 at 11:55 pm

By Paolo von Schirach May 14, 2012 WASHINGTON – An item in the May 14 News Hour on PBS caught my attention, for two reasons. The first one was the issue itself: long term unemployment in America, something that is becoming a real tragedy, with millions of people out of a job for so long that [...]

Obama Pushing The “Buffett Rule” Tax Hike For The Rich, Even Though This Is No Tax Reform – The Point Is To Have A Crowd Pleaser – Romney And GOP Will Also Manipulate Issues – No Serious Policy Debate

Posted by on April 14, 2012 at 11:23 pm

By Paolo von Schirach April 14, 2012 WASHINGTON – Sebastian Mallaby, (The Buffettt rule is a sorry excuse for tax reform, The Financial Times, April 13, 2012), correctly points out that President Obama’s insistence in pushing the idea of tax increases for the rich (the “Buffett rule”) is bogus tax reform. Surely we could and probably [...]

Mercifully Santorum Dropped Out, But His Sentimental Paleo-Conservatism Really Damaged the GOP Brand – It May Be Impossible For Romney To Repair It Before The November Vote

Posted by on April 10, 2012 at 11:13 pm

By Paolo von Schirach April 10, 2012 WASHINGTON – By dropping out of the Republican Party nomination process, Rick Santorum did the only sensible thing he has done in a campaign founded mostly on preposterous, sentimental and hopelessly archaic themes. The scary part is not that another out of step with the modern world  politician wanted to run on family [...]

Walter Russell Mead Dismisses Predictions About US “Decline” – Then What About The Massive Debt, The Deficit, The Anemic Recovery? America Is In Even Worse Trouble If Serious Thinkers Deny The Mess We Are In

Posted by on April 9, 2012 at 10:20 pm

By Paolo von Schirach April 9, 2012 WASHINGTON – Professor Walter Russell Mead believes that all this talk about “American decline” is incorrect. (The Myth of America’s Decline, The Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2012). The real issue –he claims– is the decline of the Trilateral System, ( the US, Europe and Japan), that shaped the [...]

Romney Will Get The Republican Nomination – Now He Will Have To Propose An Inspiring Vision Of Growth And Fiscal Discipline, But Also Of Hope And Genuine Inclusiveness – A Revival Of The America Dream

Posted by on April 3, 2012 at 10:48 pm

By Paolo von Schirach April 3, 2012 WASHINGTON – After primary wins in Maryland, the District of Colombia and Wisconsin, it appears that Mitt Romney has turned a corner. It seems now  that the Republicans are finally getting the message that this acrimonious and bitterly contested primary season is not advancing their objective of creating a compelling anti-Obama [...]

According To The Pundits The Elections Boils Down To The Unemployment Rate And Gas Prices: Upward Trend Obama Loses, Downward He Wins – Apparently Nothing Else Matters In America – This Is A Dangerous Impoverishment Of The National Conversation

Posted by on March 14, 2012 at 10:41 pm

By Paolo von Schirach March 14, 2012 WASHINGTON – Listening to the pundits debating the upcoming presidential  elections, the consensus boils down to this: if the unemployment rate stays as is (8,3%) or trends down between now and November, president Obama gets re-elected. If it goes higher, then he is in trouble and may not make [...]

After Quran Burning Riots, Less Support For Afghanistan War In Washington – Time To End This Occupation With No Purpose And Refocus On Fighting Terrorists

Posted by on March 6, 2012 at 10:41 pm

By Paolo von Schirach March 6, 2012 WASHINGTON – The Afghanistan $ 2 billion a week war is losing political support in Washington. Well, about time I would say. In fact, it is absolutely remarkable how a ten year costly war, whose purpose remains largely opaque, can go and on without any serious national debate on purpose, [...]

Pundits Claim That US Economy Is Doing Fine – Data Suggest Otherwise – Partisanship and Self-Deception Make People Believe That 8.3% Unemployment is Good

Posted by on February 29, 2012 at 11:57 pm

By Paolo von Schirach February 29, 2012 WASHINGTON – If you listen to most commentary about the US economy, it seems that we have turned a corner and that things are looking brighter every day. Unemployment is down, growth is up, manufacturing is doing better and, yes, president Obama is looking good. His ratings are up. [...]

GOP and Democrats Should Back Legislation Pushing For The Use Of Cheap, Domestic Natural Gas As Transportation Fuel – Huge Savings For Consumers, Improved Energy Security For US

Posted by on February 27, 2012 at 11:55 pm

By Paolo von Schirach February 27, 2012 WASHINGTON – This being an election year, rising oil and gas prices have unleashed predictable polemics about whose fault it is that energy costs are going up in America. Easy enough for the Republicans to claim that it is all Barack Obama’s responsibility, because his administration is biased against fossil fuels, making [...]

Weak Republican Field Means Obama’s Re-Election – Second Term President Would Have The Opportunity To Lead By Fashioning Bipartisan Consensus Behind Major Reforms. Will He Do it?

Posted by on February 22, 2012 at 10:37 pm

By Paolo von Schirach February 22, 2012 WASHINGTON – Whatever happens with the Republican nomination process, the winner is unlikely to truly inspire America. For different reasons, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are all very weak candidates. (I shall not even try to assess Ron Paul, who lives all by himself in a [...]