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: Gov. Officials
In Soviet Russia, the news makes you: competing portrayals of the spy scandal
As if US-Russian relations weren’t already complicated enough, a breaking spy scandal has resulted in the expulsion of Ryan Christopher Fogle, a junior diplomat at the US Embassy in Moscow, who allegedly attempted to recruit a Russian intelligence officer to spy for the CIA. Reading the American and Russian press in the wake of the … Continue reading
Jewell Confirmed As Head of Interior
On Wednesday, Sally Jewell was officially appointed as the new head of the Department of the Interior. Jewell has spent her professional life outside of the political realm, which made her a desirable candidate for many people. She began her career as an engineer for Mobil Oil where she worked for several years. She later … Continue reading
Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State: Great, but not Groundbreaking
Today marks the final time the nameplate on the desk of America’s highest ranking diplomat will read Hillary Clinton. At close of business, the former first lady turned Senator, will leave her post as Secretary of State after 4 years of traveling nearly 1 million miles to nearly 100 countries, a record-breaking feat. She has … Continue reading
Now Batting for Dodd-Frank: The State Department steps in to help save the Resource Extraction Rule
Late last week a seldom heard voice echoed throughout the regulatory reform debate forum when the U.S. Department of State openly stood behind the controversial Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ‘Resource Extraction Rule.’ This rule, developed as part of the continuing cavalcade of Dodd-Frank initiatives, went into effect last August with the goal of requiring … Continue reading
Politicizing Adoptions or Tales of the Magnitsky Act
The Magnitsky Act, a bill that recently passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, seeks to punish corrupt Russian officials. The bill, named after Sergei Magnitsky who discovered that Russian officials stole $230 million from the Russian treasury and alerted officials, and was later imprisoned and allegedly beaten and denied medical … Continue reading
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
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