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.

Guest Post by George Lakoff: The Obama Code

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This is a guest post for The Washington Note by UC Berkeley cognitive linguistics professor George Lakoff, author of The Political Mind: Why You Can’t Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain and Don’t Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate–The Essential Guide for Progressives.

Text of NPR Story on Lugar’s Cuba Moves

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Jackie Northam, national security correspondent for NPR, has a great piece up on Senator Richard Lugar’s moves on US-Cuba relations that will air this evening. But here is the beginning of the “text” that can be read in full as well. But the opener: The senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says U.S….

Playing Ukrainian Dominoes

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Douglas Rediker is Director of the New America Foundation/Global Strategic Finance Initiative. Rediker is a capital markets expert who has been focused on the emergence of “state capitalism” as a key feature of the new international economic order. He has now become a regular contributor to The Washington Note.

MEDIA ALERT: NPR’s All Things Considered on ‘A New Pivot in US-Cuba Relations’

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This evening at about 5:30 pm EST, I will be discussing Senator Richard Lugar‘s important new Senate Foreign Relations Committee report titled “Changing Cuba Relations: In the United States National Interest” (pdf here) with Jackie Northam on All Things Considered. From Lugar’s opening letter with the new US-Cuba “committee print”: “The debate [over U.S.