GOP Solution: Go Retro?

February 23, 2009

Republicans are hatching a political comeback by dusting off a strategic playbook written nearly two decades ago. Its themes: Unite against Democrats’ economic policy, block and counter health care reform and tar them with spending scandals. Those represent the political trifecta that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich bet on in 1994 to produce a historic […]

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Charted Bear Market Comparison: 1929-2009

February 23, 2009

The chart below is a comparison of the current market to all previous bear markets — including Friday’s new low on the Dow.

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Art of the Farewell Email

February 23, 2009

It was not the most eloquent subject line for a farewell e-mail to 5,000 co-workers: “So long, suckers! I’m out!” But Jason Shugars worked at Google, whose off-center corporate culture is more forgiving than that of your average buttoned-down investment bank. In the rest of his goodbye, Shugars, a senior sales compliance specialist, reminisced about […]

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Obama's Popularity Assessed at One Month Mark

February 23, 2009

PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama remains highly popular among the U.S. public at the end of his first month in office. However, the 63% of Americans currently approving of his job performance is down slightly from his initial 68% rating in January. The percentage disapproving has doubled, from 12% to 24%.

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White House Sacrifices Israel for the UN Racism Confab

February 23, 2009

The Obama administration’s decision to join the planning of the U.N.’s Durban II “anti-racism” conference has just taken a new twist: cover-up. On Friday, State Department officials and a member of the American Durban II delegation claimed the United States had worked actively to oppose efforts to brand Israel as racist in the committee drafting […]

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Hollywood Meets Bollywood

February 23, 2009

Western studios are working to cash in on India’s box-office potential, as demonstrated by the success of “Slumdog Millionaire.”

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Ex-SecState Condi Rice Gets Three Book Deal

February 23, 2009

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has agreed to a three-book deal with Crown Publishers, starting with a memoir about her years in the administration of President George W. Bush.

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Rauch and Blankenhorn's Same Sex Marriage Solution

February 23, 2009

This has been bouncing ’round the tubes for a few days. It’s a gay marriage compromise from two guys who don’t want to see the gay marriage issue get locked into perpetual culture war by the courts the way abortion was. David Blankenhorn is a well-known and widely-read opponent of gay marriage. Jonathan Rauch is […]

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Congressional Probe Launched into Postmaster's Pay

February 23, 2009

Congress will hold a hearing next month into why Postmaster General John E. Potter has gotten a nearly 40 percent pay raise since 2006 and was awarded a six-figure incentive bonus last year, even as the U.S. Postal Service faces a multibillion-dollar shortfall that threatens a day of mail delivery.

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Lacy: Friedman Misses Point on Silicon Valley

February 23, 2009

Thomas Friedman is a very smart man and a very good writer. He’s certainly sold more books than I ever will. But in reading his latest column arguing $20 billion in bailout money should go to VCs not auto companies, one thing was crystal clear: This man doesn’t live in Silicon Valley. Has he even […]

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