Young: Stimulus Fight Brings Obama Into Focus

February 18, 2009

February is the cruelest month – at least for Barack Obama. After the very real sense of hope and renewal that surrounded Obama’s inauguration, shared even by many who did not vote for him, came the morning after. First, another scandal over unpaid taxes took down Health and Human Services nominee Tom Daschle. Then came […]

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Inside Rasmussen Reports: Is Politics Slanting Polls? Gambling in this Establishment?

February 18, 2009

Last week, as they’ve done every week for nearly two years, New Jersey-based Rasmussen Reports cycled a question about Congress into its nightly political tracking poll. Over two nights, around 1000 voters (they must be voters, or say they are, to be included in the poll) were asked by an automated, voice-activated pollster whether they […]

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Syria's Assad Positive About Relationship with Obama

February 18, 2009

Syria expects the US to send an ambassador to Damascus soon to make good on Barack Obama’s offer to engage in dialogue with countries the Bush administration shunned, President Bashar al-Assad told the Guardian today.

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More Ethics Problems for Emanuel? Rent-Free Just One Question of Many

February 18, 2009

NEWS broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent-free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.) – and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel’s previously undisclosed ethics problems.

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McArdle: Did WW2 Really End the Depression?

February 18, 2009

The Great Depression indisputably ended during World War II, which is when the output gap closed. But was it causal? Like everything else about the Great Depression, it’s really hard to know.

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More Details on Obama's 17k Troops to Afghanistan

February 18, 2009

President Obama has ordered the first combat deployments of his presidency, saying yesterday that he had authorized an additional 17,000 U.S. troops “to stabilize a deteriorating situation” in Afghanistan.

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Lance Armstrong Asks Twitter Users to Help Find Unique Stolen Bike

February 18, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong is calling on legions of Twitter users to track down a one-of-a-kind bicycle stolen from a northern California racing venue. Armstrong sent out a rallying cry to the more than 128,000 Twitter members who have signed up to receive the brief text messages he routinely […]

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Prosecution Drops Half of Charges Against BitTorrent Giant Pirate Bay

February 18, 2009

STOCKHOLM — Prosecutors dropped half of the charges in the landmark trial of The Pirate Bay file sharing site Tuesday, leaving observers stunned and prompting questions about the government’s preparedness in the long-awaited criminal proceeding.

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GM Hemmoraging, Needs $16.6Bn For Any Hope of Survival

February 18, 2009

Following the blackened tread marks of Chrysler, these loans barely begin the recovery process for GM (if at all – Saturn and Hummer are gone anyway). In plans delivered to Treasury, both companies argue that taxpayer-funded restructurings are still better than bankruptcy, as in that case GM may require as much as $100Bn in financing.

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Greenspan Says Bank Nationalization is Necessary

February 17, 2009

The former Fed chief calls American nationalization of banks, at least on a temporary basis, the “least bad” policy option for the government in order to achieve “a swift and orderly restructuring.” How bad is it? “I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do.”

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