During the 2008 campaign, then-candidate Obama promised that his administration would be the most open and transparent in American history – in history! Jefferson be damned. He’s repeated that sound bite multiple times, stating that they have instituted rules that, for example, disallow registered lobbyists from working at the White House and make White House … Continue reading »
Category Archives: Presidency
WARNING: the Adverse Effects of Unilateral Sanctions
Last week, Congress overwhelmingly voted to increase sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although nuclear nonproliferation has become my life work’s purpose, I can’t, in my right mind, agree with our government’s decision to add increased sanctions. On the other Before you stop reading, hear me out. First, let’s examine the general reasons for … Continue reading »
Mo’ Money Same Problems
What does 6 billion dollars buy you? Apparently in politics, it buys you an almost unchanged House, Senate, and President. In fairness, out of the 6 billion dollars spent, only – and I say only because in perspective it can be qualified as such – around 680 million was spent by super PACs on independent … Continue reading »
Nobody likes a sore loser
What ever happened to bowing out gracefully? The night of the election, Mitt Romney looked the most presidential I had ever seen him, delivering a gracious concession speech and leaving the stage for the final time with his pride and honor still in tact. The President even proposed a meeting so that he and Romney … Continue reading »
Friends, Not Foes
In 1952, Justice Robert H. Jackson, in his opinion on Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v Sawyer, also known as the Steel Seizure Case, stated, “When the president acts pursuant to an express or an implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own … Continue reading »
A Halloween Treat(y): Political Partisanship and The Declining Role of Article II Treaties
21st Century government in the United States has become synonymous with extreme political polarization. Since the 2000 presidential election, and the subsequent Supreme Court decision in Gore v. Bush, political bipartisanship has been sparse, at best. Numerous factors have played into the growing political divide in Washington, including a widening ideological gulf between the Democratic … Continue reading »
The Failures in Libya
When asked this past Sunday if the recent terrorist attack on American diplomats in Libya was an “intelligence failure,” senior White House Advisor David Plouffe said, “No, this was an event obviously … a complex event.” Let us ignore the obvious tautology of Plouffe’s remarks and his clear desire to obfuscate the issue instead of … Continue reading »
A Comparison: Reagan, Obama & Jobs
A myriad of articles have been written on how the presidential election of 2012 should garner a stringent comparison to that of the 1980 presidential election. I agree. During both presidential elections the United States economy was and is hurting. But, the focus of this article is: how did the presidents perform after they won … Continue reading »
Death of a Diplomat: The Fiscal Cliff and Diplomatic Security
In the wake of Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ death, the resultant media deluge on Libyan consulate attacks spouted a cornucopia of opinions, including discussion on the anti-Muhammad film that sparked the initial protests, the effectiveness of President Obama’s foreign policy efforts towards the Middle East;, the thought process, or lack thereof, of Mitt Romney’s ill-time statement … Continue reading »
Overseas Employment: Increasing Jobs at Home by Investing Abroad
Obama’s fundamentally flawed attacks on Bain Capital’s outsourcing history seem both hypocritical and highly ignorant of the global economy considering that major companies present in his own jobs council have been “pioneering” outsourcing themselves. GE, American Express, Intel, and UBS are all present on the President’s Council of Jobs and Competitiveness and all have increased … Continue reading »