Finally. . .Arturo Valenzuela Confirmed as Asst Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere

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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.

Does Hugo Chavez Take Three Minute Showers?

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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.

Senator LeMieux On Wrong Track with anti-Cuba Political Action Committee and State Department Hold

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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.

Hindery Report on Effective Unemployment: 19.2%

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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…

Senator Fritz Hollings: Time to Get Out of Afghanistan

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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.

GDP 3rd Quarter UP 3.5% but Unemployment Hits 10.2%

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Today, the government announced a surge in the national unemployment figure of 10.2% — which seriously underestimates the ‘effective unemployment’ rate of those who have stopped looking for work or who are undermployed. Leo Hindery issues these numbers regularly, and I will post them when I receive them.

A Skunk We Should Want? Live-Blogging a Joe Biden Discussion on Challenges Facing US Middle Class

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WASHINGTON, DC — 10:00 am — Vice President Joe Biden was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania and has lived for decades in Wilmington, Delaware — both working middle class communities that have been under siege from both domestic and international economic forces.