By Steve Clemons

It’s just one hurdle overcome. 39 Democratic defections — too many in my book. But the bill passed. Now the Senate, and then reconciliation and more.

Pictures often say a lot — but this one even more. China’s growing confidence is clear in this shot of General Xu Caihou, who serves as the second-highest ranking officer in China’s military. General Xu visited the US Pacific Command at Ft.

This is a guest note by Daniel Levy, co-director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation. During the Barak Government, Levy worked in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office as special adviser and head of Jerusalem Affairs, following which Mr.

This is a guest note by Kevin Nealer. Nealer has been a Fulbright professor of trade law & policy in China and is Guest Lecturer at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

What follows below is an interesting article that I am going to post in full as it does not at this point appear to be available on the internet anywhere.

After a long, messy battle between Senator Jim DeMint and the Obama administration, Senator DeMint removed his holds on two key administration appointees whose nominations have been languishing pending the outcome over a battle involving the Honduras ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.

My liberal friends who watch Latin America often cringe when I say this, but I really don’t like Hugo Chavez. I recognize that he was democratically elected — but I think he’s a reckless leader in Latin America who has too much of a frequency to animate trouble beyond his borders.

Kind of sad when you see a Freshman US Senator get appointed and immediately hijacked by lobbying groups who have deeply parochial interests that run against the nation’s and even Senator George LeMieux‘s own state of Florida.

Each month when I get the official unemployment figures from the US government, I quickly search in my inbox for a note from former cable network CEO and senior economic adviser in the John Edwards and Barack Obama campaigns Leo Hindery who sends me the “effective unemployment” figures that many economic commentators from Joseph Stiglitz…

This is a guest note by former Senator Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings (D-SC) who served for 39 years in the United States Senate. He is the author of Making Government Work, which Steve Clemons recommends for anyone wanting to understand more about legislative structure and process.