Democrats

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 [...]

Confused Republicans Will Have A Weak Candidate – Four More Years For Obama – Bad for America, As This President Has No Convincing Pro-Growth Plan

Posted by on February 9, 2012 at 11:28 pm

By Paolo von Schirach February 9, 2012 WASHINGTON – The confused and fractious Republicans appear terminally incapable of getting their act together, as the latest contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri won by comfortable margins by conservative Rick Santorum show. By now it is pretty obvious: a large chunk of the rank and file GOP activists really do not [...]

Panetta Announced Early End Of US Combat Mission In Afghanistan, And the Strategic Rationale Is…? Not Clear At All – It Looks As If It Is Driven By The US Political Calendar: Better To Go Into A National Election With A Promise To End A War

Posted by on February 4, 2012 at 10:59 pm

By Paolo von Schirach February 4, 2012 WASHINGTON – What a mess in Afghanistan. Given the high cost of what very charitably could be called an expensive and inconclusive stalemate, it is really surprising that president Obama has not been damaged politically by a war effort with no focus and no end game, except for [...]

Obama’s Election Strategy Is To Push “Fairness”, As If This Would Solve Anything – Taxing The Rich Will Not Get Higher Growth, Nor Will It Get Better Educated Children

Posted by on January 26, 2012 at 11:49 pm

By Paolo von Schirach January 26, 2012 WASHINGTON – It is quite depressing to observe Washington total political paralysis, accompanied by cheap and openly divisive populism. Admittedly, it is difficult to govern when the two parties are so deeply divided. But the president has to try. This is what he was elected to do and what he gets paid [...]

The End Of US Upward Mobility? Economic Stagnation, Growing Inequality Are Shaping A Nasty Political Battle – Who Will Rebuild America?

Posted by on January 5, 2012 at 11:14 pm

By Paolo von Schirach January 5, 2012 WASHINGTON – Good bye Horatio Alger, and good bye to all the (mostly but not entirely) mythical “rags to riches” American stories. Farewell to an America where truly determined people could go as far as their dreams would take them. The unpleasant new reality is that opportunity and upward mobility [...]

America Has Too Much Debt – Even In The Best Case Scenario, Deleveraging Will Take A Decade – No Magic Solutions – President Romney Would Be Stuck, Just Like President Obama

Posted by on January 3, 2012 at 10:32 pm

By Paolo von Schirach January 3, 2012 WASHINGTON – All the Republican would be presidents promise vigorous pro-growth policies that will unleash old fashioned, time tested Yankee ingenuity. The campaign narratives are that, after having been constrained by anti-business policies pushed by closet socialist Barack Obama, with proper leadership, American enterprise will burst once more into the [...]

America’s Government Is Dysfunctional – The Ideologues Dominate And Compromise Is Impossible – Gridlock Until The 2012 Elections, And May Be Beyond

Posted by on December 18, 2011 at 10:08 pm

By Paolo von Schirach December 18, 2011 WASHINGTON – The topic of the ABC News Sunday morning talk show today was the size of the US Government: “Is it too big, or not big enough?” Supposedly this is the focus of “The Great National Debate” in America, and the leading theme of the forthcoming 2012 national elections. [...]

Gingrich Idea To Legalize Most Illegal Immigrants In The US Attacked As Extreme By Romney – Only In America Sensible Policy Can Be This Controversial – Obtuse Ideological Positions Prevail And Candidates Pay Homage To Them

Posted by on November 23, 2011 at 9:43 pm

By Paolo von Schirach November 23, 2011 WASHINGTON – Only in this dysfunctional political environment common sense policy recommendations can be described as shocking or controversial. In the latest CNN produced debate among Republicans fighting to get their party nomination for the presidency, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich advocated a process whereby law abiding illegal immigrants would [...]

“Super Committee” Failed, As Predicted – Compromise On Spending and Taxes Perceived As Political Suicide By Both Parties – Nothing Will Get Done In 2012 – If US Still Split After 2012 Vote, Expect More Gridlock On Spending – Markets Are Watching

Posted by on November 21, 2011 at 10:57 pm

By Paolo von Schirach November 21, 2011 WASHINGTON – The Congressional ad hoc “Super Committee” co-chaired by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, (R. Texas), and Senator Patty Murray, (D. Washington), failed in its mission to produce an agreement on any mix of spending cuts and revenue  increases that would have resulted in total savings of at least 1.3 [...]

TransCanada Keystone Pipeline Project Killed By Obama – Decision Taken To Please Environmentalists Hurts US Energy Security – Getting More Oil From Friendly Canada Would Be Smart Policy

Posted by on November 12, 2011 at 12:01 am

By Paolo von Schirach Related story: http://schirachreport.com/index.php/2011/10/14/keystone-xl-oil-pipeline-from-canada-to-texas-will-not-be-built-obama-afraid-to-antagonize-environmentalists-too-bad-for-us-energy-security/ November 12, 2011 WASHINGTON – Well, apparently there are ”good” and  “bad”  shovel ready major infrastructure projects. The Obama administration has been loudly preaching the need to spend federal money now in order to put unemployed Americans to work, while rebuilding  or building US infrastructure, so that America will become more efficient and [...]