Although I have written a couple of commentaries on the Afghanistan war, mainly illustrating the complexity of that conflict, I will be the first one to admit that I am by no means an expert on that issue and that I have no relevant suggestions on how to proceed. The real experts are hard at work, hopefully to come up with a successful strategy, corresponding troop levels, etc. However, when I say “real...

In Washington, Revolving Doors are Bad for Your Health by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship On Tuesday, October 13, the Senate Finance Committee finally is scheduled to vote on its version of health care insurance reform. And therein lies yet another story in the endless saga of money and politics. The majority of Americans favor a non-profit alternative – like Medicare – that would give the private...

US president Barack Obama’s predicament (on hearing about Nobel Peace Prize) seems similar to that of a dashing man who comes face-to-face with a fawning socialite in public who gushes: “Darling I love you from the bottom of my heart.” The media is having a field day revelling in this hot/sexy topic that has landed in their lap. This element of surprise (after the award’s announcement)...

Excuse me, but I have some reservations and a bunch of questions about the various healthcare reform bills both houses of Congress could vote on as early as this month. The biggest concern I have is why we taxpayers are subsidizing the private carriers to insure us. The bills are aimed at guaranteeing growing private insurance profits without regard to improving our health. Oh, there are a few caveats thrown...

After months of a new and old media narrative about President Barack Obama’s proposed health care reform being on the ropes — a political hot potato Obama tossed Congress to resolve — is the tide finally turning? Within the past 24 hours a new report came out suggesting one of the proposed plans would help reduce the deficit — removing a key political talk radio culture talking/attack...

WASHINGTON — So now we know: The economic stimulus plan passed by Congress at the beginning of the year was not big enough. We also know this: Once it secures a health care bill — yes, it will get one — the Obama administration from that moment to the 2010 midterm elections will be all about jobs, jobs, jobs. In the face of persistently high unemployment, the administration’s...

Gore Vidal, 83, described as America’s greatest essayist and one of its best-selling novelists, says he has in his life “crashed many barriers.” Vidal’s brutal manner of criticism hasn’t waned. The United States of America, he says, is a “madhouse” and its President is “overwhelmed” and “incompetent”. Last year he famously switched allegiance from Hillary...

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely got a golf company to send out e-mails surveys to their users. 17,000 people to responded. On Marketplace yesterday he discussed his findings: First of all, it turns out that people in the pharmaceutical industry cheated a lot, but they also said their industry is the most honest that there is. There are some other interesting comparisons. For example, if you look at law enforcement,...

Here we go again. Yves Smith links to a WSJ article that highlights how banks are not saving nearly as much as they should be for expected losses in the commercial real estate sector, assets that could lose $1-$2 trillion. Calculatedrisk has a series of posts that hammer the point home: up to 20% of all hotels defaulting (with a larger percentage of the debt defaulting), apartment prices falling and leading...

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919, aka Rusty Lionhorse) was an Italian composer who wrote the libretto and music for the opera “I Pagliacci” (The Clowns) in 1892. It was a huge overnight success and it remains today one of the 20 most performed operas in the World. Even if you rarely listen to classical music or opera, you’ve probably heard and would recognize some of the great music and arias. Leoncavallo...

He is the demented comedian who gave us Uncle Sugar. He also analyzes public policy in his role as associate director of the Regulatory Studies Program at George Mason University. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Rob Raffety: Incidentally, the editors of the Wall Street Journal acidly note that car sales began to plunge as soon as Cash For Clunkers expired. Cross-posted at Conventional Folly

Guest Post By Leonidas Leonidas is a frequent, right of center commenter on The Moderate Voice and has been invited as a Guest Voice. ********** The Washington Post reports: Faced with the smothering inefficiencies of a state-run economy and unable to feed his people without massive imports of food, Cuban leader Raúl Castro has put his faith in compatriots like Esther Fuentes and his little farm out in the...

The econoblogs are buzzing over an article in The Independent about talks between the Gulf States and key consumers to reprice oil away from the dollar, as highlighted by Guest Voice John Wells. The implication is that this occurring because of our massive debts, will severely weaken the dollar, and is a large first step towards the dollar losing its reserve status. John was rather measured, which can’t...

Dollar May Be Dropped In Oil Trade by John Wells A troubling article in the UK Independent reports that Gulf Arabs are planning with China, Russia and France to begin dropping the dollar as the trading currency for oil and moving to a hodgepodge of currencies including the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen and the euro. Meetings have already been held discreetly by the involved finance ministers, and though it...

As the Obama Administration has rolled out its proposals and priorities, I have questioned them in numerous TMV postings. However, I am still willing to give his Administration four years before passing final judgment. But if the first 9 months are a blueprint for the balance of his term, I do not expect any major edifices or landmarks in U.S. history to emerge. I am not bothered by the plethora of issues...

WASHINGTON — At a White House dinner with a group of historians at the beginning of the summer, Robert Dallek, a shrewd student of both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, offered a chilling comment to President Obama. “In my judgment,” he recalls saying, “war kills off great reform movements.” The American record is pretty clear: World War I brought the Progressive...

A number of independent news sources and commentators have noted that many of the healthcare reform provisions in the proposed Congressional legislation might not become effective until 2013. If true, that would be extremely strange, illogical and politically dangerous for Democrats. Republicans and other opponents of healthcare reforms have succeeded this year in frightening many in the voting public with...

Saturday Night Live skewered President Barack Obama last night. Satire is often a barometer of emerging conventional wisdom — so Obama & Co should not view this one as welcome news:

There have been numerous studies confirming the sad fact that we have a 2-tier justice system in the U.S. where the wealthy and powerful are often treated noticeably better than the poor and weak. The Roman Polanski affair bears some comment in light of this reality. For most Western Cultures over the past 100 years, the rape of a 13-year-old girl by a man in his 40’s by means of drugs and alcohol has been...

The President, the First Lady, and the Obama Administration did not lose anything by making a direct personal appeal to the International Olympic Committee on behalf of Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. The President of Brazil and the top leaders of Japan and Spain were also there making the same promotional efforts. At best each city had only a 25% chance of winning. The President did not...

This is what happens when you cut over $100 billion from an economic stimulus bill — including $40 billion to help revenue-starved states — for no reason better than wanting the numbers to be smaller:

A new Gallup poll reveals that Pres. Obama’s Jewish support is the strongest of any other non-Hispanic white religious grouping:

I’ve been off the network for almost two weeks now, while my wife and I were in the process of moving into our new home in Northwest DC. This move will mark the end of an era. I’ve packed up and moved almost every 12 months since graduating from college ten years ago. Now, I’ve found a place where I hope to live for ten or twenty years or longer. For the moment, it still feels like we’re...

On my way back from a trip abroad, I generally try to pick up the best honey for my close relations. During the past decade I have been hearing that the supply of honey may become scarce with the bees vanishing at an alarming rate. It’s a question that has baffled the worlds of agriculture and science – what is it that has caused the mysterious deaths of honey bees all over the world in the last five...

Many economic measures for September have been released the last two days and they are all worse than August. Manufacturing activity still expanded slightly but at a slower rate than August. [Note: it says fell but that means the number went down. It was still above 50, signaling expansion. I hate their terminology as it was saying it "rose" six months ago when it went from 40 to 42.] However, factory orders...