The Limits of a “3 Minute Rahm” in Obama’s Kitchen Cabinet

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I can’t get into names, but if a crafty business journalist got on the phone to the biggest billionaires and financial wizards who support the Democratic Party and Barack Obama, he or she would find a large passel of very frustrated economic elites who think that Obama’s stimulus package and spending priorities are not going…

A Miscellenous Sunday

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(photo credit: Andrew and Diane of Nemablog) I had never heard of a polar desert before — but the pic above is of one.

EU Emergency Summit

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BRUSSELS: While stomping around through Europe on various endeavors, I coincidentally found myself in Belgium today amid an economic summit.

Changing the Course in Afghanistan and Pakistan

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My friend and New America Foundation colleague Nicholas Schmidle has just published an extensive profile of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari titled “The Black Widower“. The piece got me thinking about what a successful strategic shift in our eroding situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan would look like.

Obama’s Camp Lejeune Speech

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Very interesting speech by Obama today on bringing the Iraq War to a close. Obama stated moments ago that troop levels in Iraq will be brought down to 50,000 by August 2010 — and then all forces will be removed by the end of 2011. America’s financial crisis is driving much of this.

James K. Glassman: Corruption and Bank Nationalization

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This is a guest post by James K. Glassman, former Chairman of Public Broadcasting and former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. Glassman was also editor of Roll Call and was founding editor of The American, and is now president of the World Growth Institute. This piece first ran in The American earlier today….

America’s Financial Crisis is Not a Clogged Sewer Problem

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UT Austin/LBJ School of Public Policy economist James K. Galbraith is testifying this morning at 10 am EST for the House Financial Services Committee. He will be joined by economists John Taylor and Alan Blinder. Galbraith, a fervent Obama supporter, is not much impressed by the early moves of President Obama’s economic team.

What’s Next for the Peace Process?

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Last night, President Obama said in his remarks to a joint meeting of Congress: To seek progress toward a secure and lasting peace between Israel and her neighbours, we have appointed an envoy to sustain our effort. I dislike the word “sustain” here.