Press Briefing

Sep 02, 2010

What Do We Know About the Impact of Remittances on Financial Development?
http://blogs.worldbank.org/allaboutfinance/what-do-we-know-about-the-impact-of-remittances-on-financial-development

Teachers for Coverups - The Wall Street Journal applauds the L.A. Times's decision to publish evaluations of public school teachers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467004575463841606641572.html

Briefing on U.S. Government's Continued Efforts to Disrupt and Dismantle Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/2010/146597.htm

The Lawfare Wars - The al-Nashiri bugout, and attack of the killer lawyers—on drones
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467004575463721720570734.html

The White House - Continued Recovery for America’s Agricultural Economy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/01/continued-recovery-america-s-agricultural-economy

If Saddam Had Stayed - Saddam would have joined the nuclear bad-boys club with Iran and North Korea
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882304575465721991599994.html

The White House - Forging Ahead on Middle East Peace Talks
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/01/forging-ahead-middle-east-peace-talks

Projects To Develop Novel Monitoring Networks for Advanced Power Systems Selected
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2010/10040-Projects_To_Develop_Novel_Monitori.html

Update: US Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/09/146606.htm

Some Coal-Fired Power Plants Were Built Last Year, is This the Start of a New Trend or Are New Coal Plants Dead?
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/09/01/some-coal-fired-power-plants-were-built-last-year-is-this-the-start-of-a-new-trend-or-are-new-coal-plants-dead/

White House - New Resources for Employers and Unions to Help Keep Health Coverage Accessible and Affordable
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/31/new-resources-employers-and-unions-help-keep-health-coverage-accessible-and-affordab

The administration's 'summer of recovery' has fizzled in almost every way imaginable. The growth rate is less than half what it was at this stage after the 1974-75 and 1981-82 recessions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882304575465462926649950.html

Press Briefing

Sep 01, 2010

Bring Back the Estate Tax Now - Allowing it to lapse has cost us billions of dollars in revenue this year
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575454073982825164.html

Shikha Dalmia on the General Motors IPO
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467004575463972500361374.html

From the Desk of Maria Otero, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs
http://www.state.gov/g/146541.htm

Letters From the Imam - Feisel Abdul Rauf on Israel and Iran
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451762406545760.html

Readout of President Obama’s Briefing Call with FEMA Administrator Fugate on the Preparations Being Made in Advance of Hurricane Earl
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/01/readout-president-obama-s-briefing-call-with-fema-administrator-fugate-p

Office 39, Call Office 99 - More useful pressure on North Korea
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467004575463934062014778.html

Ben Rhodes Answers Your Questions About Iraq Following the President's Oval Address
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/31/ben-rhodes-answers-your-questions-about-iraq-following-presidents-oval-address

Conservatives: The Obama Doctrine
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/09/01/morning-bell-the-obama-doctrine

President Obama's Address on the End of the Combat Mission in Iraq
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/31/president-obamas-address-end-combat-mission-iraq

'Systemic Risk' Stonewall - Some bailout questions the Fed still hasn't answered
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467004575463781244452958.html

It’s Time for Reality, Not Deadlines, in Iraq and Afghanistan
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/08/31/morning-bell-its-time-for-reality-not-deadlines-in-iraq-and-afghanistan

Press Briefing

Aug 31, 2010

Camille Paglia writes that pressuring middle-class young people into "word jobs" is cruelly shortsighted - "The elite schools, predicated on molding students into mirror images of their professors, seem divorced from any rational consideration of human happiness."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461691182268962.html

The White House - Economic Recovery for Small Businesses: Now is Not the Time to Pull Back
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/30/economic-recovery-small-businesses-now-not-time-pull-back

TARP and the Continuing Problem of Toxic Assets - It was a bold bet that the Treasury and Fed could engineer an economic recovery without allowing the repricing of US housing stock
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455951017059416.html

White House - Landmark: Number of Donut Hole Rebate Checks Passes One Million
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/30/landmark-number-donut-hole-rebate-checks-passes-one-million

Tire-d Old Trade Policies - You can't boost exports by trashing imports
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703669004575458523112347824.html

Abolish tenure, require more teaching, put star professors online
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703618504575460252029820466.html

The White House Blog - Agent Orange and Veterans: A 40-Year Wait
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/30/agent-orange-and-veterans-a-40-year-wait

J McCain: The Surge and Afghanistan - Unless he understands the reason for success in Iraq, the president is unlikely to lead a successful strategy against the Taliban
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703618504575459983690019468.html

White House: Katrina - Five Years Later, Our Commitment Continues
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/30/five-years-later-our-commitment-continues

Why We Fought and What We Achieved - Saddam had launched multiple wars, used weapons of mass destruction and aided global terrorism. Now Iraq's government is an ally and represents all the Iraqi people.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461452331806476.html

Remarks on the 47th Anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" Speech. By Hannah Rosenthal, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism . Imam Yahya Hendi From Clergy Without Borders, Washington, DC, August 28, 2010

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/rm/2010/146434.htm

Social Security Bait and Switch - 'Harry, am I making this up?' Yes, Mr. President, you are.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461601764263106.html

IMF Enhances Crisis Prevention Toolkit
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr10321.htm

Alvin Greene Mocks White House Staff As 'Harvard Rich Kids'
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575453211943767790.html

Press Briefing

Aug 30, 2010

Muslim: It was only after losing the fight for total state power against democracies and dictatorships alike that Islamists launched their war against the West
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575453211943767790.html

Conservative: The World Trade Center Mosque and the Constitution
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455503946170176.html

Export Controls for the 21st Century - The current system is a legacy of the Cold War and fails to distinguish between low-tech items and the most advanced proprietary technology
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575454313481209990.html

On the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) Tax Task Force Report
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/27/perab-tax-task-force-report

Jimmy Carter in Pyongyang - Back to the same old North Korean games
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703669004575458422510924854.html

Our Man in Caracas - Good news: Chávez doesn't like him
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449933853736568.html

Ten Fallacies About Web Privacy - We are not used to the Internet reality that something can be known and at the same time no person knows it
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455192488549362.html

Alinsky Wins at the SEC - A new proxy access rule will help activists and unions, not shareholders
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455791673609002.html

Kirchner's Assault on the Press - This week's target: Argentina's two most influential daily newspapers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455483542041338.html

The White House Blog - Preparing Workers for New Careers
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/27/lost-and-found-preparing-workers-new-careers

The Folly of Subsidizing Unemployment - My calculations suggest the jobless rate could be as low as 6.8%, instead of 9.5%, if jobless benefits hadn't been extended to 99 weeks
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575454431457720188.html

Energy Dept: Setting the Record Straight on Weatherization
http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2010/08/27/setting-record-straight-weatherization

The $31 Billion Revenue Fantasy - Those who make $200,000 a year are 3% of all taxpayers but pay 52% of all income taxes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703876404575200621394266894.html

The White House Blog - Helping New Orleans Rebuild Its Schools
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/28/helping-new-orleans-rebuild-its-schools

Spreading Hayek, Spurning Keynes - Professor Leads an Austrian Revival
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703418004575455911922562120.html

When Justice Comes Naturally - The Constitution can 'live' without losing its core meanings. Review of Hadley Arkes's Constitutional Illusions & Anchoring Truths.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575448761803060070.html

The 1.6% Recovery - The results of the Obama economic experiment are coming in
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455823740024224.html

Remarks by the President on the Fifth Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/29/remarks-president-fifth-anniversary-hurricane-katrina-new-orleans-louisi

Lebanon's parliament amended a 1946 law that had been used to bar the 400,000 Palestinians living in the country from taking any but the most menial jobs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435933047619568.html

Press Briefing

Aug 27, 2010

USAID Launches Pakistan Flood Relief Info Sharing on “Humari Awaz” Cell Phone Network
http://blogs.state.gov/ap/index.php/site/entry/pakistan_flood_relief_info_sharing_humari_awaz

A new study confirms what I've been saying for decades: Paying high fees to fund managers is the route to lower returns
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575447531979322798.html

The SEC's Sop to Unions - Under the new rules, average shareholders won't muster the numbers to influence corporate elections
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451343422958522.html

A Challenge for WTC Mosque Opponents - The rights of American Muslims are being questioned in other locations. Will Gingrich and Palin speak out on their behalf?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575453123857886644.html

Blanche Lincoln's Last Earmark: changes to Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) - The spending problem, in profile
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449422819519354.html

Protecting Medicare Benefits and Offering Clear Choices for Seniors
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/26/protecting-medicare-benefits-and-offering-clear-choices-seniors

Intel's Otellini: "the next big thing will not be invented here. Jobs will not be created here. And wealth will not accrue here. Ultimately, we will face an inevitable erosion and shift of wealth—much like we are witnessing today in Europe."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575453803561625516.html

Women's Equality Day and the 90th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/26/womens-equality-day-and-90th-anniversary-19th-amendment

Scapegoating For-Profit Colleges - Obama tees up another private industry for punishment
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425830335709738.html

200,000 Homes Weatherized Under the Recovery Act
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/26/200000-homes-weatherized-under-recovery-act

Time for Obama to Pull a Clinton - When I met with the president in early 1995, I warned him he would not be re-elected unless he changed his reputation
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959704575453450250159546.html

UN mapping report leaked: Crime of genocide against Hutu center of controversy
http://congosiasa.blogspot.com/2010/08/un-mapping-report-leaked-crime-of.html

Public Pensions and Our Fiscal Future - Few Californians in the private sector have $1 million in savings, but that's effectively the retirement account they guarantee to many government employees
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449813071709510.html

Press Briefing

Aug 26, 2010

Jared Bernstein on Republicans, the Recovery Act and "jobs created or saved"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/25/increasingly-awkward-dance

The Military Should Mirror the Nation - America's Armed Forces are drawn from an increasingly narrow segment of society
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451531529098478.html

Five Principles to Make “Contingent Capital” More Like Capital and Less Contingent
http://www.cambridgewinter.org/Cambridge_Winter/Archives/Entries/2010/8/25_NOW_MORE_ABSORBENT!.html

Stop the Madness - Washington is spending the country into economic decline
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449961346648370.html

The IRS Targets Incompetent Tax Preparers - That's good news. But the agency is going overboard
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575447873306166034.html

U.S. Provides $50 Million in Early Recovery Aid to Pakistan Flood Victims
http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2010/pr100825_1.html

Big Foot on Campus - Why colleges want a waiver from ObamaCare
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451710632099560.html

Minutes of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy July 2010 Official Meeting
http://www.state.gov/r/adcompd/146252.htm

Oil Spill & The Gulf Claims Racket - The lawyers are upset they aren't getting more of the action
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449692864994262.html

A Muslim Reformer on the Mosque - The warriors for tolerance and the antimosque crusaders are both wrong
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451433090488678.html

The Fed Is Running Low on Ammo - It still has options if more monetary easing is needed. But they're not very effective
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575448022122679194.html

IMF Paper: Can Global Liquidity Forecast Asset Prices?
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=24164.0

The White House is having a disastrous 'summer of recovery.'
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703632304575451502211231456.html

Press Briefing

Aug 25, 2010

Working Together To Save Lives in India
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/india_leh_flooding

Cleaning Up the Mortgage Mess - Obama's program to help homeowners has unfortunately made things worse
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704075604575356663725805580.html

Countering Piracy: International Partnership Achieves Steady Progress
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/piracy_international_partnership_progress

Our Blue-Collar Great Depression - American workers who are less well-educated need a lifeline until new opportunities emerge.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704023404575429864088150270.html

The Case for Economic Optimism - Investment in equipment and software is strong, as is the outlook for exports
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703995104575389041193020822.html

Why the Senate Should Block 'New Start' - The nuclear treaty is the first step toward unilateral disarmament
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405634208565808.html

U.S. Government Hosts Conference on Improving Southern Sudan's Agriculture
http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2010/pr100824.html

The Trial Bar Heads to Iraq - A lawsuit that would create civil damages for wartime decisions
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575447613501672210.html

Wireless in Gaza - If young Palestinians have access to better information today, they may make better decisions tomorrow
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435923218083624.html

Human Rights Kowtow - The Obama Administration makes itself an accomplice to U.N. corruption
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449960554393200.html

Vice President Biden Releases Report on Recovery Act Impact on Innovation
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/24/vice-president-biden-releases-report-recovery-act-impact-innovation

The Housing Mirage - Homeowner subsidies have only delayed the day of reckoning
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449751158395676.html

The Afghanistan War Is Mainly About Pakistan and India - Actually, it's about the whole region.
http://www.slate.com/id/2264918/

Putting the Brakes on ObamaCare  How a Republican Congress could begin the process of repealing this unpopular law
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703649004575437271015655924.html

Press Briefing

Aug 24, 2010

The White House Blog - Their Economic Policies Haven’t Changed, So They Won’t Bring the Change We Need
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/24/their-economic-policies-haven-t-changed-so-they-won-t-bring-change-we-need

Wind Power Won't Cool Down the Planet - Often enough it leads to higher carbon emissions
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703792704575366700528078676.html

White House: 31,000 Homes Weatherized in June
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/23/31000-homes-weatherized-june

Virginia Is for Surpluses - Erasing red ink without a tax increase
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703579804575442063233671300.html

The White House Blog - Your Credit Card Bill of Rights Now in Full Effect
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/23/your-credit-card-bill-rights-now-full-effect

The Politics of Plastic - The war against credit cards is raising costs and harming consumers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575447613154049510.html

Identified a family of retroviruses in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (update)
http://digs.by/cFFWeq

Cracks in the Iranian Monolith - Opposition is spreading in the streets, in prisons, and even in the military
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704017904575409611936612020.html

Like Bush, Not Clinton, Obama Follows His Heart Not Polls
http://blogs.wsj.com/capitaljournal/2010/08/22/like-bush-not-clinton-obama-follows-his-heart-not-polls/

Press Briefing

Aug 23, 2010

Lorenz Of Arabia - As a wartime strategy, Germany tried to foment a Grand Jihad in Muslim lands
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703461504575444532238358048.html

The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility - The idea that companies have a duty to address social ills is not just flawed, argues Aneel Karnani. It also makes it more likely that we'll ignore the real solutions to these problems.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703338004575230112664504890.html

The White House Blog - At the Indiana State Fair: Farmers, The First Entrepreneurs
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/20/indiana-state-fair-farmers-first-entrepreneurs

The Guns of August, 1990 - The last 20 years would have been very different had American forces taken that open road to Baghdad the first time around
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703589404575417820146420794.html

Reducing Energy Costs while Creating Green Jobs for Americans, by Secretary Shaun Donovan
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/20/reducing-energy-costs-while-creating-green-jobs-americans

Australian Boomerang - Another big spending center-left party loses its majority
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703461504575442693926568832.html

President Obama Challenges Politicians Benefiting from Citizens United Ruling to Defend Corporate Influence in Our Elections
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/21/weekly-address-president-obama-challenges-politicians-benefiting-citizen

ObamaCare's Tax on Taxes - The latest gambit to punish for-profit health insurers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435473272964804.html

How States Hide Their Budget Deficits - The SEC's charges against New Jersey for misleading investors should warn other states against sweeping the truth under the rug
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703579804575441240180244472.html

Iran Unveils New Drone
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704504204575444872540980904.html

Treasury Concludes Three Weeks of Global Engagement with Governments, Private Sector on Iran
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg835.htm

$4.4 Trillion - That's how much the spending baseline has increased in 31 months
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575439543402718272.html

Obama Administration Housing Scorecard Shows Continued Progress in Housing Market, but Challenges Remain
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg833.htm

Gates and Buffett Take the Pledge - Wealthy businessmen often feel obligated to 'give back.' Who says they've taken anything?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575438993318888822.html

Press Briefing

Aug 20, 2010

Update: U.S. Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/146107.htm

The Lockerbie Bomber and Scotland's Disgrace - A political stunt freed a mass murderer and brought needless grief to many in the US
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703649004575437221006992494.html

Bashing Beijing Will Not Help Our Trade Deficit - Higher wages, not a stronger yuan, will help Chinese workers and reduce US imports
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704023404575429843465266202.html

State Dept: A Critical Milestone in Iraq
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/milestone_iraq

The SEC's Jersey Score - At last, a state gets hit for securities fraud
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575439431857019668.html

Seniors Already Seeing Lower Prescription Drug Costs
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/18/seniors-already-seeing-lower-prescription-drug-costs

More Countrywide Loans - What Senate ethicists didn't tell us on Dodd
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435851680516676.html

Remarks by the President at a Discussion with Ohio Families on the Economy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/18/remarks-president-a-discussion-with-ohio-families-economy

Victory in Iraq  -American arms created a republic, if Iraqis can keep it
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575439743828817562.html

An assessment of the long-term economic impact of stronger capital and liquidity requirements
FSB & BCBS, August 2010
http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs173.htm

The Basel Committee's assessment of the long-term economic impact finds that there are clear net long term economic benefits from increasing the minimum capital and liquidity requirements from their current levels in order to raise the safety and soundness of the global banking system. The benefits of higher capital and liquidity requirements accrue from reducing the probability of financial crisis and the output losses associated with such crises. The benefits substantially exceed the potential output costs for a range of higher capital and liquidity requirements.

The FSB-BCBS MAG assessment of the macroeconomic transition costs, prepared in close collaboration with the International Monetary Fund, concludes that the transition to stronger capital and liquidity standards is likely to have a modest impact on aggregate output. If higher requirements are phased in over four years, the group estimates that each one percentage point increase in bank's actual ratio of tangible common equity to risk-weighted assets will lead to a decline in the level of GDP relative to its baseline path by about 0.20% after implementation is completed.  In terms of growth rates, this means that the annual growth rate would be reduced by an average of 0.04 percentage points over a four and a half year period, with a range of results around these point estimates. A 25% increase in liquid asset holdings is found to have an output effect less than half that associated with a one-percentage point increase in capital ratios. The projected impacts arise mainly from banks passing on higher costs to borrowers, which results in a slowdown in investment. A two-year implementation period leads to a slightly larger reduction from the baseline path, with the trough occurring after two and a half years, while extending the implementation period beyond four years makes little difference. In all of these estimates, GDP returns to its baseline path in subsequent years.


Winning the Peace in Iraq - The last American combat troops left Iraq this week. But when 'Operation New Dawn' begins on Sept. 1, the U.S. will still have a vital mission—and interests—there
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476104575439381641164538.html

Get Ready for Ads in Books
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435243350910792.html

Proposal to ensure the loss absorbency of regulatory capital at the point of non-viability - consultative document
http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs174.htm

Press Briefing

Aug 19, 2010

Update: U.S. Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/146066.htm

Barney Frank to Fannie Mae: Drop Dead - Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703649004575437574151872544.html

Barney Frank has been all over the airwaves this week with a clear and—we never thought we'd say this—perfectly sound message about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: "They should be abolished."

Well, praise be. Two years ago next month, then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson put the two government-sponsored mortgage-finance giants into conservatorship, and Congressman Frank declared himself pleased that there was a good chance, according to government bean-counters, that the rescue wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime. Also at the time, Mr. Frank scoffed at the Bush Administration's view that Fan and Fred should be wound down, saying it would never happen. One and a half trillion dimes ($149 billion) later, Mr. Frank appears to have seen the light.

Recall that in 2007 Mr. Frank had complained that the reason Fannie and Freddie hadn't been reformed earlier was "the insistence of some economic conservative fundamentalists in the Bush Administration who, to be honest, don't think there should be a Fannie Mae or a Freddie Mac." Welcome aboard, Barney.

In another sign that he's an avid reader of these columns, Mr. Frank even told Fox Business, "If we want to subsidize housing then we could do it upfront and let the budget be clear about that." That is certainly a more honest way to subsidize housing and makes us think we don't write in vain.

We prefer no subsidy for homeownership, not least because the painful experience of the last 40 years is that such policies lead to boom and bust and awful economic harm. Canada has neither a Fannie Mae nor a mortgage-interest tax deduction, and yet its homeownership rate is higher than America's. The homebuilder-Realtor-mortgage banker lobby will object, which is no doubt why Treasury chief Tim Geithner continued to call for some federal role in guaranteeing mortgages at his housing finance gabfest this week. But that road inevitably leads to the Son of Fannie.

The housing reform debate is only beginning, but for now we'll associate ourselves with Mr. Frank's view that if Congress wants to subsidize housing, it ought to do so directly out of annual appropriations, allocating dollars in open and transparent fashion against other priorities.


Assessing the macroeconomic impact of the transition to stronger capital and liquidity requirements - Interim Report
BCBS & FSB
http://www.bis.org/publ/othp10.htm

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Financial Stability Board set up the Macroeconomic Assessment Group (MAG) to assess the macroeconomic effects of the transition to strengthened capital and liquidity regulations. The MAG comprises economic modelling experts from central banks and other authorities. In its Interim Report, the MAG concludes that, for each percentage point increase in the target capital ratio implemented over a four-year horizon, the level of GDP relative to the baseline path declines by a maximum of about 0.19%. The maximum GDP loss occurs four and a half years after the start of implementation, after which GDP recovers towards its baseline path. The associated rise in banks' lending rates would amount to about 15 basis points for each percentage point increase in capital. These costs will slowly dissipate during and after the phase-in, returning GDP to the path it would have followed in the absence of the changes. The impact of the new regulatory framework on specific national financial systems will depend on current levels of capital and liquidity in those systems, and on the consequences of changes to the definitions used in calculating the relevant regulatory ratios. These results imply that the reforms proposed by the Basel Committee are likely to have, at most, a modest impact on aggregate output, provided that appropriate transition arrangements are in place.


Deconstructing Harry Reid - The Senate majority leader's inexplicable desire to debate taxes in September
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703649004575437413307858620.html

Somalia: Frozen Warfare in Mogadishu
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Analysis/Somalia_Frozen_Warfare_in_Mogadishu_Intelligence_Brief_2.shtml

Blagojevich 23, Fitzgerald 1 - Chicago's jester politician humiliates the Justice Department
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703649004575437490986410482.html

Press Briefing

Aug 18, 2010

Update: U.S. Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/146049.htm

Obama Follows Nixon On Oil Spills - The overreaction to Santa Barbara in 1969 left the country dangerously vulnerable
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425541427252542.html

Ralph Nader: Where Left and Right Converge - Anticorporatist views are becoming more and more common
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435321716423354.html

FASB's Tort Bar Gift - New accounting rules would give lawyers a lawsuit roadmap
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435851610547946.html

If 10-year interest rates, which are now 2.8%, rise to 4% as they did last spring, bondholders will suffer a capital loss more than three times the current yield
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425384002846058.html

The Avastin Mugging - The FDA rigs the verdict against a good cancer drug
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405203894857436.html

Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner Opening Remarks at theConference on the Future of Housing Finance APFD
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg830.htm

Lift the wraps on the Himalayan border situation - Let facts speak for themselves on the India-China frontier
http://chellaney.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!4913C7C8A2EA4A30!1237.entry

Press Briefing

Aug 17, 2010

The White House Blog - Slowing Large Health Insurance Premium Increases
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/16/slowing-large-health-insurance-premium-increases

Comrade Duch and the Killing Fields - When will justice come to more senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395052402779036.html

The White House Blog - New Battery Technology and New Jobs in Wisconsin
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/16/new-battery-technology-and-new-jobs-wisconsin

Uncle Sam, Venture Capitalist - Meet the battery company that Obama visited yesterday
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575433882374313148.html

Japan as Number Three - Beijing's rise, Tokyo's fall and the wealth of nations
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575433212314778700.html

Update: U.S. Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145997.htm

The Future of Housing Finance - We'll never get a rational mortgage system until the government's affordable housing mandates are ended
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425231311880538.html

Press Briefing

Aug 16, 2010

Exploring the Many Facets of Deterrence, by Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/145954.htm

The Fed Can't Solve Our Economic Woes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575418964014417740.html

US Groundbreaking Effort to Provide Emergency Food Assistance to Earthquake Victims in Haiti - Two New Grants Utilize Cash and Food Vouchers to Complement In-Kind Food Aid
http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2010/pr100813.html

Subsidy As a Way of Life - In the U.S. it's 'work, work, work.' A rock drummer in France gets a state stipend.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703960004575427731291231298.html

Presidential Memorandum--Continuation of U.S. Drug Interdiction Assistance to the Government of Colombia
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/12/presidential-memorandum-continuation-us-drug-interdiction-assistance-gov

How Not to Win Hearts and Minds - In a U.N. survey, 52% of Afghans said foreign aid organizations 'are corrupt and are in the country just to get rich.'
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703999304575399422302747074.html

Press Briefing

Aug 13, 2010

Update: U.S. Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145945.htm

State Sec Clinton On New START Treaty Ratification
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/08/145879.htm

Awlaki vs. Predator - American members of al Qaeda aren't merely criminal suspects. They're active enemy combatants who can be targeted like other terrorists.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704901104575423253031580156.html

Obama Administration Announces Additional Support For Targeted Foreclosure-Prevention Programs To Help Homeowners Struggling with Unemployment
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg823.htm

Georgia and the Limits of Russian Power - Moscow's occupation forces remain in the country, but the future looks bright for Tbilisi
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425090664809722.html

White House: Teaching Our Way to a Stronger Economy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/10/teaching-our-way-a-stronger-economy

Rosty and Reagan - A lesson in tax reform and bipartisanship
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425661456858140.html

Are Plastics Making Us Fat? - Health gurus claim chemicals—not calories—are the cause of obesity
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703545604575407201305888876.html

How did Sudan implode so catastrophically?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421901117532376.html

Hezbollah, Radical but Rational
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100811_hezbollah_radical_rational

The Dodd-Frank Bailout is Already Here
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/08/12/morning-bell-the-dodd-frank-bailout-is-already-here/

Nanostructured Metamaterial Enables Invisibility Cloak, Amplifies Light, Reduces Dramatically Absorption
http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/nanostructured-metamaterial-enables-invisibility-cloak

Press Briefing

Aug 12, 2010

Why Obama Is Still the Favorite in 2012 - Hispanic voters hold the balance of power—and Republicans aren't winning their support
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704017904575409300064389276.html

Europe Jumps Off the Keynesian Bus - The economy is looking bright in Britain and Germany after those governments announced plans to reduce spending
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421231390302638.html

Nuclear Reactor Renaissance - Nuclear reactor design is poised for a desperately needed revival. Here are seven contenders.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/nuclear-reactor-renaissance

The White House Blog - Another Step Towards Sustainable Recovery
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/10/another-step-towards-sustainable-recovery

No Bad Idea Left Behind - Congress turns even a border security bill into a job killer
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575422293810650232.html

Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore a Stimulus Success Story; Project to Add Desperately Needed Highway Capacity
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/10/caldecott-tunnel-fourth-bore-a-stimulus-success-story-project-add-desperately-needed

Gay Marriage: Leave It to the Voters - I support it as a policy matter, but having the courts mandate it promises trauma of the sort that followed Roe v. Wade
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421223725915454.html

Commerce Secretary: The Cost-Saving Census
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/10/cost-saving-census

Washington vs. Paul Ryan - What happens when a politician is more honest than his critics
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419473063003094.html

Press Briefing

Aug 11, 2010

Update: U.S. Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145860.htm

Washington Post economics columnist Robert Samuelson on avoiding the economic fate of Western Europe
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421721525088464.html

Pakistan's Project of Renewal - The floods are only the latest challenge to hit my country, says President Zardari
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419632502446788.html

The High Costs of Very Low Interest Rates - Money that should be invested to create jobs is instead funding government debt, while worried consumers sit on the sidelines
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405592876165452.html

The Case For Birthright Citizenship - Since the abolition of slavery, we have never denied citizenship to any group of children born in the U.S. Why change now?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421222258065684.html

Urging Iran to Respect the Fundamental Freedoms of its Citizens, by State Sec Hillary Clinton
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/08/145857.htm

Recusal Refusal - NLRB appointee Craig Becker's evolving definition of ethics
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421702003156386.html

Discussion on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145855.htm

Quantitative Easing 2 - The Fed revs up the helicopter
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421670983872464.html

Implementation of Iran Sanctions, by Robert J Einhorn, Special Advisor Nonproliferation and Arms Control
http://www.state.gov/t/isn/rls/rm/145348.htm

End of the Net Neut Fetish - What the Google-Verizon deal really means for the wireless future
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421434187090098.html

New START Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC)
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/145830.htm

Stimulus Pushers - The latest bailout for public unions and spendthrift states
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421613093659730.html

Press Briefing

Aug 10, 2010

Karachi's complex culture of violence
http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/08/09/karachis_complex_culture_of_violence

President Obama on Higher Education in Austin: "We Are Not Playing for Second Place"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/09/president-obama-higher-education-austin-we-are-not-playing-second-place

Hillary for Vice President? The movement is gaining traction.
http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704388504575419421407147424.html

The White House Asks: How do the Women You Know Continue to Break Barriers?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/09/white-house-asks-how-do-women-you-know-continue-break-barriers

Joel Kotkin on California as a "failed state."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419561240207650.html

The Calm Amidst the Smoke - I've never lived in a city where the bizarre is so interwoven into daily routines as in Moscow
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419263127245830.html

Statement of President Barack Obama on Secretary Gates Reform Agenda
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/09/statement-president-barack-obama-secretary-gates-reform-agenda

In Lebanon, a Power Struggle and Pitiable Choices - A young prime minister pays court in Syria, while Iran also jockeys for more influence
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575418881692455798.html

The White House Blog - Top 5 Things You Should Know Before Heading Back to College
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/09/top-5-things-you-should-know-heading-back-college

Of CEOs and Congressmen - Private vs. public accountability
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419550839726076.html

Confronting China's Snarl - Beijing's truculence warrants a firm American response
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703309704575413112417865690.html

Compensation in Bell, California - Want $600,000 a year in retirement? Work for the government.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419600042368596.html

The False Fed Savior - Monetary policy can't make up for failed fiscal and regulatory policy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419231591024478.html

Unlocking The Genetic Secrets Of Autism
http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.1903/healthissue_detail.asp

Update: U.S. Response to Pakistan's Flooding Disaster
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145814.htm

Naomi Campbell and the 'Blood Diamond' Hoax - Diamonds aren't a major reason for Africa's conflicts, and the Kimberley Process is no guarantee of a stone's pedigree in any case
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703589404575417460834079500.html

Critical Role of Women in Peace and Security, by Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues
U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington, DC
http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/rls/rem/2010/145786.htm

Building on Iran Sanctions - With the regime under pressure, now is not the time to ease up
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704017904575408872075399544.html

Press Briefing

Aug 09, 2010

Tough new global financial rules are a must
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/08/AR2010080802478.html

Canada, Land of Smaller Government - Its corporate income tax rate is 18% and falling. America's is 35%
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703977004575393221638794924.html

Libertarians: Medicare's chief actuary vs. President Obama on the ObamaCare facts
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703309704575413263344491010.html

White House: The Employment Situation in July
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/06/employment-situation-july

Fairness and the Capital Tax Fetish - No serious economist thinks higher dividend and cap gains taxes are efficient ways to raise revenue. Why not limit deductions for high earners instead?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703700904575391463715177240.html

The Ongoing Administration-Wide Response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill
http://app.restorethegulf.gov/go/doc/2931/840851/

Why I'm Not Hiring - When you add it all up, it costs $74,000 to put $44,000 in Sally's pocket and to give her $12,000 in benefits
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704017904575409733776372738.html

Will Iraq Fall Victim to the Oil Curse? - The Baghdad government runs a top-down command economy and only pays lip service to private jobs and economic diversification
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703748904575411231275371108.html

John Fund on Medicare's questionable financial condition
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703309704575413491311091442.html

Honoring Elena Kagan
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/06/honoring-elena-kagan

Government and the Uncertainty Trap - It's not a lack of liquidity that's holding back our economy. Investors and business leaders are waiting to learn more about future taxes and regulations.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405302726656506.html

Federal President's Weekly Address: Medicare Officially Safer After Health Reform
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/07/weekly-address-medicare-officially-safer-after-health-reform

The World Drills On - There's no ban in Norway, Brazil, Australia, Canada . . .
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339290774710032.html

Deutsche CEO: West's Levies on Banks May Lift Asia's Role

Deutsche CEO: West's Levies on Banks May Lift Asia's Role. By ALISON TUDOR And PETER STEIN
WSJ, Jul 18, 2010

HONG KONG — Asia's already rising importance as a profit center for financial services could gain more momentum as governments in the U.S. and Europe levy new taxes on global banking profits, according to Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Josef Ackermann.

"The relative importance of Asia will even increase" as a result of regulatory moves against banks in the West, Dr. Ackermann said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "Asian countries would be well advised not to copy levies which are so popular in many other parts of the world."

The German bank's chief , who has become a prominent voice for bank interests in the wake of the financial crisis and heads the global lobby group Institute of International Finance, was in Hong Kong to attend the listing ceremony Friday for Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

The levies cumulatively could translate into a substantial hit for lenders with branches in many countries, such as Deutsche Bank, which generates about three-quarters of its revenue outside of its home market, Dr. Ackermann said. Instead, he called for a home bias to the levies because the country of domicile was the one called on most to help out in the banking crisis.

Emerging markets could even take advantage of the backlash against banks in the West to grab market share in financial services, he said. "A lot of governments are determined, including the Chinese, to build up financial hubs at a time when other countries are more skeptical about the financial sector," he said, noting that Turkey and Russia are making similar advances.

Dr. Ackermann also warned that the war for talent in Asia is causing a bubble in bankers' compensation that is detrimental to the industry, even as he hired another rainmaker to keep business flowing.

Late Sunday, Deutsche Bank named Henry Cai its corporate-finance chairman for Asia as well as head of its corporate and investment bank in China. Mr. Cai is known as one of China's most consistent deal makers and is well-connected with the business and political elites in Beijing. He resigned from UBS AG in recent weeks as investment-banking chairman for Asia. It isn't known how much he will be making at Deutsche Bank.

Other senior banking executives in Asia complain that increasing competition for talent in the region is leading to excessive pay packages for bankers working in such areas as mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings. Compensation, a key cost for banks, can cause serious problems for management when one division's or one region's pay is out of kilter with the rest. The buzz over bankers' pay in Asia comes at a time when governments in the U.S. and Europe are seeking to curb excesses that in recent years contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

"If the industry pushes compensation levels up by just poaching people from each other, in the long term it is not a sustainable model and not good for the culture of banks in the region," Dr. Ackermann said.

To combat this problem, Deutsche Bank has started recruiting more Asian graduates with the aim of steeping them in the bank's culture and later returning them to the region to run its businesses.

"It's not a short-term solution. It may take up to five years to see the first successes, but that is what we are working on," said Dr. Ackermann, who was also in Asia to give a speech at an International Monetary Fund conference in South Korea.

Like other banks weighing the prospects of the global economy, Deutsche Bank has made boosting its operations in Asia a top priority. "Europe's slow economic growth and the very competitive environment in the U.S. means Asia is a very attractive market, so it would be unwise not to do everything we can to be part of the market," Dr. Ackermann said.

The German bank is targeting four billion euros ($5.17 billion) in annual revenue from the Asian-Pacific region excluding Japan by next year, about double the amount it generated from the region in 2008.

Deutsche Bank already has a strong foothold, with operations in 17 Asian countries and over 17,000 employees.

Local regulators restrict foreign banks in ways that allow them to earn only about a third of their potential revenues, according to a recent report by consultancy McKinsey & Co., so the banks need to be careful not to compete in the same niches, such as high-profile underwriting deals in financial centers like Hong Kong. Deutsche Bank says only about 5% of its revenue in Asia comes from "public" deals such as initial public offerings.

One such deal that Deutsche Bank was involved in was the IPO for AgBank, which began trading Friday in Hong Kong. Clients like AgBank and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., which Deutsche Bank also helped take public four years ago, are potential competitors as their business grows in scope and sophistication.

"I have no doubt [China's banks] want to first strengthen their domestic operations by moving towards more fee income then expand internationally gradually," Dr. Ackermann said. "We will also be confronted with stronger competitors coming from China."

Somali Militant Group Built Training Camps, al Qaeda Links

Somali Militant Group Built Training Camps, al Qaeda Links. By WILL CONNORS in Kampala, Uganda, SIOBHAN GORMAN in Washington, D.C., and SARAH CHILDRESS
WSJ, Jul 17, 2010

The terror group behind last weekend's deadly Uganda blasts recruited a local man to coordinate the attacks and received funds from al Qaeda, say investigators, as it extends its reach beyond lawless Somalia.

Al Shabaab, the Somalia-based group that has claimed responsibility for July 11's triple suicide blasts that killed 76 people in Uganda's capital, Kampala, has in recent months built up Pakistan-style terror training camps. One top leader, Sheikh Muktar Robow, has helped to transform the group from a local insurgency into a global jihadist organization modeled on, and swearing allegiance to, al Qaeda.

That picture of the group, and its development under Mr. Robow, emerged from interviews with Ugandan, Kenyan and U.S. investigators; current and former U.S. intelligence officials; and Somalis, including a member of the militant group.

A U.S. intelligence official said information gleaned from militant communications shows links between al Shabaab and al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and Yemen. U.S. officials also see evidence of overlap in training and membership and say their working assumption is that al Shabaab has several hundred core members, similar to the numbers in al Qaeda in Pakistan and in al Qaeda's Yemeni outpost.

Intelligence officials say they believe al Qaeda is using the Somali group as a symbiotic host body, allowing its operatives access to other African countries. "As much as we're looking at al Shabaab, they are riding on the back of a more experienced player," said Col. Herbert Mbonye, the director of counterterrorism for Uganda's military intelligence body.

That relationship has raised red flags at U.S. intelligence agencies. In the past 18 months, militant training camps have emerged in Somalia similar to those that developed in Pakistan's tribal areas, a U.S. intelligence official said. Intelligence officials are now following about two dozen individuals from the U.S. and other Western countries who may have been affiliated with al Shabaab, or gone through these camps.

"It's quite an alarming story," the U.S. intelligence official said.

Al Shabaab's relationship with al Qaeda appears to have been cultivated in part by Mr. Robow, a top commander. Also known as Abu Mansur, he is among the U.S. government's most wanted terrorists.

Mr. Robow offered a warning of sorts ahead of Sunday's blasts, which hit a restaurant and a sports club where people had gathered to watch the final match of the World Cup. Speaking during a public address at Friday prayers earlier this month, Mr. Robow called for attacks against countries that had sent some 6,000 troops under African Union auspices to support the Somali government's offensive against al Shabaab. "We tell the Muslim youths and Mujahedeen, wherever they are in the Muslim world, to attack, explode and burn the embassies of Burundi and Uganda," Mr. Robow said, according to local media reports.

Mr. Robow grew up in southern Mogadishu as a devoted student of the Quran, according to public speeches he has made. He studied law at the University of Khartoum in Sudan, and then returned to Mogadishu to teach Arabic for several years. He is about 40, U.S. officials believe, based on a birth date on an Eritrean passport he used.

In 2000, Mr. Robow traveled to Afghanistan to train with the Taliban and al Qaeda, which used the strife-torn South Asian country to plot the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. In Afghanistan, Mr. Robow learned to fight, fire a sniper rifle and conceal roadside bombs, an al Shabaab official in Somalia said. He stayed less than a year, leaving before U.S.-led forces swept into Afghanistan.

Back in Somalia, Mr. Robow became a member of the Union of Islamic Courts, which aimed to establish strict Shariah law in the country, which had been largely lawless for a decade. The group came to power in 2006. Mr. Robow helped to establish an Islamist government and founded al Shabaab, a youth brigade that would serve as the union's armed wing.

The Islamist government soon collapsed. Al Shabaab endured. Mr. Robow, a skilled orator, became an al Shabaab spokesman and eventually deputy commander.

Al Shabaab, which controls vast territory in Somalia, has been engaged in a running battle with Somalia's transitional federal government. The group has pinned the government to a strip of the capital, Mogadishu, and largely prevented officials and parliament from meeting.

Beyond his ambition to overthrow Somalia's government, Mr. Robow has advocated linking the group's ambitions to global jihad. Through media interviews and in videos posted online, he sought to attract fighters in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Iraq, largely because foreign recruits could replenish al Shabaab's ranks and aid its finances. In a 2008 interview, he lamented that there "are not enough non-Somali brothers."

The same year, the U.S. Treasury Department declared al Shabaab a terrorist group and named Mr. Robow its "spiritual leader." Mr. Robow later released a statement saying the group was "honored" to be included on the list but expressed disappointment al Shabaab wasn't ranked higher.

Senior U.S. administration officials said some foreign fighters who answered Mr. Robow's calls—some of whom have "close links" with al Qaeda—came with experience, funding and the agenda of establishing Somalia as a base from which to attack Western targets.

The foreigners also brought new tactics. Roadside bombs and suicide blasts, once unheard-of in Somalia, are now part of al Shabaab's armory. The group's commanders have banned dancing, mustaches and, most recently, watching World Cup games on television. Fighters punish offenders with floggings or public amputations.

On Wednesday, armed al Shabaab fighters drove through towns in southern Somalia, blaring a warning to residents through megaphones mounted on their vehicles, according to witnesses contacted by telephone. "You must collaborate with [us] and allow your sons to fight the enemy of Allah," Abu Maryama, a senior al Shabaab official told crowds in the southwestern town of Baidoa. "If you pay no heed to this …you will be considered as another enemy and face punishment."

Harsh retribution and indiscriminate deaths have sapped public support for the group, and created rifts within it. Mr. Robow has been caught between those who want to focus the insurgency in Somali—and retain a measure of popular support— and the global jihadists who don't care about local backing, according the al Shabaab colleague. Mr. Robow, a Somali who has long opposed foreign intervention in his country, may not be considered radical enough for the new agenda, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels based think tank.In the Uganda attack, the group's two factions apparently found middle ground.

The blasts have presented U.S. officials with a quandary. They see a need to step up support and involvement in the region, but they haven't determined the best course. "Violence always breeds urgency," the U.S. intelligence official said. "The question is: What [to do]?" The U.S. has been tracking al Shabaab and al Qaeda in Somalia for years, officials say. The Central Intelligence Agency works with military special forces units to collect intelligence and pinpoint targets, a former senior intelligence official said. The U.S. also works closely with the Ethiopian and Kenyan governments on counterterrorism operations.

Those efforts have grown in recent years as U.S. officials discovered as many as 20 Americans from Minnesota making their way to Somalia, including one who was determined to have been among five suicide bombers in an October 2008 attack in northern Somalia.

The intelligence-gathering paid off last year when U.S. Special Forces killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a top operative linked to both al Qaeda and al Shabaab who was believed to be linked to 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

But U.S. Special Forces units and intelligence officials have been grappling with a broader response to the growing terror threat from Somalia. Calling in airstrikes could fuel retaliatory measures against a weak Somali government. It could also stir up anti-U.S. sentiment that would advance the group's agenda, said the U.S. intelligence official.

"If you strike a camp, it makes you feel good, but what do you do the next day?" the official said. "You don't effectively eliminate the threat."

On Thursday, an al Shabaab leader underscored that point, delivering a message on the radio in Mogadishu congratulating what he called the Martyr Saleh Nabhan Brigade for the Kampala attacks.

Intelligence agencies have warned about al Shabaab's growing ambition to attack other countries—particularly Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya—as well as the West, the U.S. intelligence official said.U.S. intelligence hadn't picked up many direct threats against Uganda, but there has been a general concern about attacks targeting countries that supply troops to A.U. forces.

Investigators in Uganda say they are questioning a Ugandan man, Ali Isa Ssenkumba, who they say has confessed to helping plan the attacks.

Mr. Ssenkumba, who is in his late thirties and hails from a farming community outside Kampala, told investigators he was recruited by Somali men who persuaded him that he could have success in business in Somalia, according to a Ugandan military official close to the investigation.

Posing as a businessman, Mr. Ssenkumba made frequent trips to Somalia, where he attended an al Shabaab training camp, the Ugandan official said. Mr. Ssenkumba told investigators many other Ugandans are at al Shabaab's Somalia training facilities.

This person says Mr. Ssenkumba become familiar with guards at the borders between Uganda and Sudan and Uganda and Kenya, and received money and coordinated logistics for roughly two dozen al Shabaab members in Uganda who are suspected of plotting the triple suicide blast. Mr. Ssenkumba said, and investigators say they separately determined, that the attack was partially funded by informal money transfers from al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Police in Kenya said they arrested Mr. Ssenkumba last week, before the attack, and handed him over to Ugandan investigators Tuesday, after the bombings.

According to Nicholas Kamwende, the commanding officer of Kenya's anti-terrorism police unit, Mr. Ssenkumba walked up to an immigration officer on the Kenya-Somalia border some time before the Kampala attacks and turned himself in.

"He said he didn't want to stay any longer with al Shabaab, that he wanted to go home," Mr. Kamwende said. "We didn't have anything to hold him on and we thought the Ugandans would be in a better position to exploit what he knew."

Mr. Ssenkumba wasn't made available to comment and it wasn't immediately apparent whether he was represented by a lawyer. Neither Mr. Kamwende nor Ugandan officials would say whether Mr. Ssenkumba provided information before the impending attack. Ugandan officials say Mr. Ssenkumba didn't turn himself in voluntarily.

—Nicholas Baryio in Kampala and Keith Johnson in Washington contributed to this article.

Press Briefing

Jul 16, 2010

We Need an Einstein Immigration Policy - When Americans see the benefits of a 'brain gain,' they'll view newcomers more favorably
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575355330311370068.html

Al Qaeda Goes Viral - The terrorists' latest recruiting device: an English language Internet magazine
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363492443581352.html

The Natural Gas Revolution - Experts are so focused on analyzing the BP spill that they're overlooking the next big thing
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575337140742410702.html

Diplomacy Briefing Series: Sudan and sub-Saharan Africa. By Tim Shortley, Deputy to the Special Envoy to Sudan
http://www.state.gov/s/sudan/rem/2010/144664.htm

The Uncertainty Principle—II - Only 30 times more complicated than Sarbanes-Oxley
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704682604575369402612040086.html

The Yo-Yo Market and You - The stock market will suffer dizzy spells until the fog of monetary policy uncertainty is lifted
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703792704575366642167190202.html

Avandia on Trial - An FDA review panel shows more wisdom than the drug's critics
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704682604575369232879016248.html

Welcome for South Asian Seeds of Peace Participants, by Judith A. McHale, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
http://www.state.gov/r/remarks/144666.htm

Youth Has Outlived Its Usefulness - American politics is desperately in need of adult supervision
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704682604575369513252243680.html

Agent Orange in Vietnam: Recent Developments In Remediation. By Matthew Palmer, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment Committee on Foreign Affairs
http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2010/07/144702.htm

How to Liberate the NHS - Andrew Lansley's plan to break the bureaucracy of th National Health Service is bold, but risky
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704682604575368823492682634.html

How Do International Financial Flows to Developing Countries Respond to Natural Disasters?
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=24050.0

Europe has implemented Feed-In Tariffs. Shouldn’t We Learn from their Experience?
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/07/15/shouldn%E2%80%99t-we-learn-from-europe/

From the Lisbon Treaty to the Eurozone Crisis: A New Beginning or the Unraveling of Europe?
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2010/0602_cuse_conference.aspx

Why Can't We Fire Failed Financial Regulators?
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11969

Thinking outside the box to avoid a double-dip recession
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/14/AR2010071405031.html

Why the Obama Stimulus Failed
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/15/morning-bell-why-the-obama-stimulus-failed

CBO’s Economic Forecasting Record: 2010 Update
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/115xx/doc11553/ForecastingAccuracy.pdf

Press Briefing

Jul 15, 2010

PEPFAR Programs in Uganda: An Update
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/update_pepfar_uganda

New Hope For Alzheimer's Disease
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1636/news_detail.asp

New Delhi Will Deploy Resources In Fight Against Marxist Insurgents
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703792704575366463084633640.html

Progress Report on Cybersecurity
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/14/progress-report-cybersecurity

How Can the International Community Maximize Human Rights Within Public Health Practices?
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/q_health_human_rights

Obama's School Reforms Are a Priority - Congress shouldn't divert the funds the president needs to improve public education. By J Klein, chancellor of New York City schools; M Lomax, president and chief executive of the United Negro College Fund; J Murguía, president and chief executive of the National Council of La Raza. They are co-chairs of the Board of the Education Equality Project.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704075604575356711939305970.html

A Chicago-Style Peace Disturber - 'Community organizer' Saul Alinsky lumped politicians in with gangsters
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704518904575365182312206078.html

Cultivating a Federal Workforce that Reflects the Diversity of the American People
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/workforce_diversity

The Air Force Needs a Serious Upgrade - Here are five steps to ensure that the U.S. remains the dominant force in the sky
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575341363579338610.html

The White House Blog: Prevention is a Priority -- Now It's a Reality
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/14/prevention-a-priority-now-its-a-reality

A Bill Lerach Tax Cut - Treasury mulls a break for contingency fee lawsuits
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704220704575367133749523548.html

Federal civil servants - Preparing for Afghanistan: Training in Muscatatuck
http://blogs.state.gov/ap/index.php/site/entry/training_muscatatuck

Three Million Imaginary Jobs - The White House says the stimulus worked beyond even its hopes. Seriously.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703394204575367421573463984.html

The U.S.-South Korea Alliance: Outdated, Unnecessary, and Dangerous
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11965

Speaking Up for American Capitalism - Business has taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House and for the most part has remained silent. It's time to make our case.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704518904575365161631063340.html

Budget Consolidation: Short-Term Pain and Long-Term Gain. IMF Staff Study
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=24044.0

Rove: My Biggest Mistake in the White House - Failing to refute charges that Bush lied us into war has hurt our country
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704518904575365793062101552.html

Remarks to Members of the U.S. Delegation to the New START Negotiations and Nuclear Posture Review Department Staff. By State Sec Clinton, Ellen Tauscher,    Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, and Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation. Dean Acheson Auditorium, Washington, DC
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/144577.htm

New START: Beyond the Rhetoric
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/07/New-START-Beyond-the-Rhetoric

Press Briefing

Jul 14, 2010

Notable & Quotable: John Fund explores whether the illegal votes of felons determined the outcome of the 2008 Minnesota Senate election
WSJ, Jul 14, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704518904575365340434975952.html

Did illegal felon voters determine the outcome of the critical 2008 Minnesota Senate election? The day after the election, GOP Senator Norm Coleman had a 725 vote lead, but a series of recounts over the next six months reversed that result and gave Democrat Al Franken a 312 vote victory.

The outcome wound up having a significant impact, giving Democrats the critical 60th Senate vote they needed to block GOP filibusters. Mr. Franken's vote proved crucial in the passage of ObamaCare last December in the Senate. . . .

Ever since Mr. Franken was declared the victor, the conservative watchdog group Minnesota Majority has combed through records comparing lists of those who voted with criminal rap sheets. It found that at least 289 convicted felons voted in Minneapolis's Hennepin County, the state's largest, and another 52 voted illegally in St. Paul's Ramsey County, the state's second largest. Dan McGrath, head of Minnesota Majority, says that only conclusive matches were included in the group's totals. The number of felons voting in those two counties alone exceeds Mr. Franken's victory margin. . . .

Minnesota Majority says it has been "stonewalled" by Hennepin County officials to whom it presented its findings. But in neighboring Ramsey County, Phil Carruthers of the local District Attorney's office says he takes the charges "very seriously" and found that Minnesota Majority "had done a good job in their review." His office has asked for 15 investigators to be hired to pursue the information. "So far we have charged 28 people with felonies, have 17 more under review and have 182 cases still open," he said.


The White House Blog - Wall Street Reform: Final Votes Approach
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/13/wall-street-reform-final-votes-approach

Real Government Efficiency - When a liberal pundit fawns over China's global-warming policies, one sees the Hobbesian within
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704518904575365090478493142.html

The Taliban War on Women Continues - When 22-year-old Hossai was told to quit her job by the Taliban, she refused to be bullied. She was shot and killed.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575362980304254578.html

The Failure of the Live Aid Model. By JOHN-CLARK LEVIN
Better government is the key to preventing famine.
WSJ, Jul 14, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363400690371326.html

Twenty-five years ago yesterday, rock stars and charity organizers from both sides of the Atlantic came together for an unprecedented fund-raising event. Simultaneous concerts at London's Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia were joined via satellite linkup for a global television audience. Ethiopians were suffering from dire famine, and promotional posters proclaimed this would be "The day the music changed the world." They called it Live Aid.

In monetary terms, the event was considerably more successful than expected, raising £150 million ($283 million). There was an extended round of global self-congratulation and a knighthood for organizer Bob Geldof. More than ever, the attention of the world was focused on the famine and poverty afflicting Africa.

Yet despite the massive financial outpouring, the raised awareness and the cultural impact, Live Aid must be considered a failure.

Recently released CIA documents from 1985 (and a subsequent BBC investigation) suggest that so much of the money went to arms instead of food that it may have prolonged and deepened Ethiopia's humanitarian catastrophe. Live Aid also focused the developed world on a flawed approach to charity that ignores the governmental causes of Africa's misery.

Seven years later, the United Nations pledged to relieve the serious famine in Somalia brought on by its civil war. The U.N.'s first mission in 1992 was purely humanitarian—providing food, medicine and other vital supplies to a population in critical danger of starvation. Yet the country was so thoroughly in the grip of chaos that 80% of the food aid was stolen. Much of the remainder was unable to pass through the ruined Somali infrastructure to reach those who needed it.

It was not until a U.S.-led military mission was sent to restore order by force that the aid finally started getting through. The famine soon abated, and the conflict subsided considerably—until American forces pulled out after suffering 19 casualties in the Battle of Mogadishu the following year. Since the final withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers in 1995, Somalia has known nothing but hunger, disease, anarchy and now piracy.

By contrast, when severe drought struck the Horn of Africa in 2006, Kenya and Ethiopia—with their relatively stable governments—were able to cope. They faced less serious food shortages than lawless Somalia, and what aid they did require from the U.N. and international relief agencies usually reached their people successfully. The easing of food shortages in the Congo in the past five years can similarly be attributed to the stability that came with the end of the region's six-year war. The quarter-century since Live Aid has borne out irrefutably that famine and poverty cannot be solved with charity alone. We can only stop them by putting an end to corruption and instability.

Even singer-turned-humanitarian Bono has conceded that these structural issues are the heart of the problem. He told NBC's "Meet the Press" in 2005, "This is the number one problem facing Africa, corruption; not natural calamity, not the AIDS virus. This is the number one issue and there's no way around it . . . So no one is talking about aid in the old sense . . . It makes matters worse, not better." Yet less than a week after that interview, Bono headlined a massive rehash of Live Aid called Live 8.

Although Live 8 branded itself as a new, "smarter" approach to charitable giving, the event shared the same misunderstanding of Africa's problems with its 1985 predecessor. The rockers and celebrities who turned out for Live 8 made high-minded calls for debt relief, monetary aid increases and trade renegotiation.

The U.N. recently announced an aid package for famine-stricken and unstable Niger. Sadly, there's little reason to think aid alone will do more good here than it has in other troubled lands over the past 25 years.

Mr. Levin, winner of the 2010 Eric Breindel Collegiate Journalism Award, is an intern at the Journal this summer.



President Obama Announces a New OMB Director: Jacob Lew
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/13/president-obama-announces-a-new-omb-director-jacob-lew

Victor Cha: North Korea ‘A Real Dilemma’
http://www.eastwestcenter.org/news-center/east-west-wire/victor-cha-north-korea-a-real-dilemma/

Remarks by the President on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-national-hivaids-strategy

Iran and the Missile Defense Imperative - U.S. intelligence now sees Tehran developing intercontinental missiles by 2015. If we continue our current strategy, we will not be able to counter the threat.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575362840121771862.html


Special Briefing On Upcoming Kabul Conference, by Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
http://www.state.gov/s/special_rep_afghanistan_pakistan/2010/144537.htm

A Welcome Veto Threat - The White House takes on the left over education
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704518904575365144086073072.html

State Dept Spokesman: Iranian Scientist Shahram Amiri (Taken Question)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/07/144541.htm

The White House’s Continuing War on Affordable Energy
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/07/12/the-white-houses-continuing-war-on-affordable-energy/

The Uncertainty Principle - Dodd-Frank will require at least 243 new federal rule-makings
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363162664835780.html

Journalism Needs Government Help - Media budgets have been decimated as the Internet facilitates a communications revolution. More public funding for news-gathering is the answer
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575324782605510168.html

Shareholders of large, publicly traded banks have a higher appetite for risk than is compatible with our regulatory system
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363231856250218.html

Obama Needs to Change Budget Dialogue Along with Budget Director
http://progressive.org/radio13july10.html

Obamacare’s Exploding Medicaid Costs
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/07/side-effects-obamacares-exploding-medicaid-costs

How Inequality Fueled the Crisis, by Raghuram Rajan
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rajan7/English

One State/Two States: Rethinking Israel and Palestine
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=3254

U.S. National Space Policy. By Frank A. Rose, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Verification, Compliance, & Implementation. Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, Switzerland
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/144493.htm

The Obama Tax and Spend Threat to Economic Recovery
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/13/morning-bell-the-obama-tax-and-spend-threat-to-economic-recovery

The determinants of cross-border bank flows to emerging markets: new empirical evidence on the spread of financial crises, by Sabine Herrmann and Dubravko Mihaljek. BIS Working Papers No 315
http://www.bis.org/publ/work315.htm

Chris Matthews: What Percentage of Republicans Would You Put In the 'Nut Bag?'
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2010/07/12/matthews-democrat-what-percentage-republicans-would-you-put-nut-ba

Press Briefing

Jul 13, 2010

The determinants of cross-border bank flows to emerging markets: new empirical evidence on the spread of financial crises, by Sabine Herrmann and Dubravko Mihaljek. BIS Working Papers No 315
http://www.bis.org/publ/work315.htm

Funding liquidity risk: definition and measurement. By Mathias Drehmann and Kleopatra Nikolaou. BIS Working Papers No 316
http://www.bis.org/publ/work316.htm

Working Hand in Hand: The Kabul Conference and Afghanistan’s International Partners
http://blogs.state.gov/ap/index.php/site/entry/kabul_conference_afghanistans_international_partners

Chemical Fears Exacerbate Whooping Cough Epidemic
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1626/news_detail.asp

The White House Blog - Introducing the New and Improved LetsMove.gov
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/12/introducing-new-and-improved-letsmovegov

Beyond the Obama Nuke Policy - How Congress and opinion leaders can counter administration weakness on North Korea and Iran
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575362821477769674.html

PTSD Claims: Making the Process Easier for Our Veterans
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/12/ptsd-claims-making-process-easier-our-veterans

Al Qaeda in Africa - Sunday's Uganda attacks underscore a new global threat
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363071312256954.html

White House: If It's Working, Keep it Going!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/12/if-its-working-keep-it-going

The New-Old Drilling Ban - Salazar to Gulf workers: Move to Egypt
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363471285220604.html

Pacific Partnership En Route to Indonesia
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/pp2010_en_route_indonesia

Kagan and ObamaCare - The Senate should press her to recuse herself from the state lawsuit
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363112109060620.html

State Dept on Bombings in Uganda
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/bombings_uganda

FDR, Obama and 'Confidence' - Demonizing business deepened the Great Depression. The White House can learn from Roosevelt's mistakes.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703636404575353431153327248.html

The Bush Tax Cuts and the Deficit Myth - Runaway government spending, not declining tax revenues, is the reason the U.S. faces dramatic budget shortfalls for years to come
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704738404575347302831199046.html

Karl Rove - In 2007, then-Sen. Obama helped derail an immigration bill he claimed to support. He's no more serious about a bipartisan bill today.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363050008644766.html

Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Final Report
http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12842

Oil Spill Response is “Stuck on Stupid”
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/12/morning-bell-oil-spill-response-is-stuck-on-stupid

Press Briefing

Jul 12, 2010

Palestians' peaceful protests: Waiting for Gandhi
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/opinion/11kristof.html

Too Good To Check - How journalists create myths and legends, not least about themselves
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704535004575349633765738968.html

Ask First Lady Michelle Obama Questions about her Let’s Move! Initiative
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/09/ask-first-lady-michelle-obama-questions-about-her-let-s-move-initiative

The World Isn't Waiting on Free Trade - Our exporters are losing ground. The president should act on the trade agreements with Colombia and others.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575354781455797618.html

The White House Blog: President Obama on Government and Economic Recovery in Nevada
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/09/president-obama-government-and-economic-recovery-nevada

Lessons From the Swedish Welfare State - New research shows bigger government means slower growth. Our country is a prime example.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704535004575348641192320912.html

Blame the Torpedo - The U.N. condemns an act of aggression but not the aggressor
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580104575361030264013868.html

Weekly Address: President Obama Announces Changes to Help Veterans with PTSD Receive the Benefits They Need
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/weekly-address-president-obama-announces-changes-help-veterans-with-ptsd-receive-be

Who Pays for ObamaCare? - What Donald Berwick and Joe the Plumber both understand
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704075604575356930951157948.html

XV Anniversary of Srebrenica Genocide, by State Sec Clinton
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/144424.htm

The Climategate Whitewash Continues - Global warming alarmists claim vindication after last year's data manipulation scandal. Don't believe the 'independent' reviews.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704075604575356611173414140.html

UN Security Council Statement on the Cheonan Attack, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/144407.htm

Obama's Entitlement Opportunity - The president's deficit commission isn't likely to agree on tax increases, but don't be surprised if it recommends Social Security reform
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703636404575352882492610768.html

“We Must Not, Will Not Lose Sight of Darfur”
http://blogs.state.gov/sudan/index.php/site/entry/darfur_peace

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner: “All Americans have a stake in financial reforms.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/07/treasury-secretary-geithner-wall-street-reform-all-americans-have-a-stake-reforms

Roseanne Barr: if Fiorina wins, 'everybody' will be 'homeless and jobless here, and sick and desperate.' 'You wanted a big socialist state telling you that military spending is more important than jobs or food or water.'
http://www.roseanneworld.com/blog/2010/07/lebron-couldnt-have-made-it-in.php

Roseanne Barr: 'SARAH PALIN IS THE WHORE OF BABYLON AS PROPHECIED BY JOHN IN THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS'
http://www.roseanneworld.com/blog/2010/06/live-today-kcaaradiocom.php

Roseanne Barr: 'Organs are harvested in war, by big farma.'
http://www.roseanneworld.com/blog/2010/06/live-today-kcaaradiocom.php

Roseanne Barr: 'all republicans' cherish 'the freedom to have sex with small children [...] (just kidding, sort of).'
http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/articles/2010/20100711154820.aspx

Cross-Strait Relations in a New Era of Negotiation, by David B. Shear, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Remarks APFD at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event
http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2010/07/144363.htm

HUD suggested language that reads: "Funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Barack Obama President." Commerce said it wants the signage displayed "throughout the construction phase" and "in a prominent location on site."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703636404575353631485205558.html

Press Briefing

Jul 09, 2010

America's Growing Innovation Gap - We've fallen behind according to studies and my experience as a CEO. Here's how to reclaim our edge.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575354863772223910.html

Persistent Unemployment - It erodes the skills of the labor force and reduces future productivity
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575354792743173672.html

The White House Blog: From Sand to Solar
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/08/sand-solar

Our Pro-Business President - The White House says he's misunderstood
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575355413601768820.html

Beyond Madrasas: Assessing the Links Between Education and Militancy in Pakistan
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2010/06_pakistan_education_winthrop.aspx

An Obama Home Run - He picks a fighting general for Centcom, Marine General James Mattis
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575355482667915228.html

The White House Blog: More Seniors to Receive One-Time Donut Hole Rebate Checks
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/08/more-seniors-receive-one-time-donut-hole-rebate-checks

Five Democrats on the Senate Energy Committee last week delivered a rebuke to the White House, voting with Reps to have Congress set up an "independent" commission to investigate the BP disaster, bypassing the President's appointees
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704293604575342974052176594.html

Youth Transitions to Employment and Marriage in Iran: Evidence from the School to Work Transition Survey
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2010/06_iran_youth_salehi_isfahani.aspx

The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy - Union 'card-check,' cap and trade, and so much more
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704293604575343262629361470.html

The White House Blog: Going Green in Denver
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/08/going-green-denver

Why This Isn't Like 1938—At Least Not Yet - Stock prices show we've dodged another depression, but toxic, antibusiness

rhetoric and policy errors like the Dodd-Frank bill are hurting the still-fragile recovery
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575354932805057578.html

The White House Blog: Smith Electric Just One Example of Innovation in Kansas City
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/08/smith-electric-just-one-example-innovation-kansas-city

New START is a Non-Starter
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/07/Experts-New-START-Is-a-Non-Starter

White House's Peter Orszag: SAVE More
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/08/save-more

Fact Checking the Fact Checker: A Response to Senator Kerry
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/07/fact-checking-the-fact-checker-a-response-to-senator-kerry

Introducing Energy and Climate Partnership for the Americas Fellow Daniel M. Kammen
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/energy_climate_fellow_daniel_kammen

Federal Government Overpaid $47 Billion a Year
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/08/morning-bell-federal-government-overpaid-47-billion-a-year

Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony Establishing the U.S.-Angola Strategic Partnership Dialogue
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/144373.htm

Why Limits On Banker Bonuses Are Meaningless
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/07/07/why-limits-on-banker-bonuses-are-meaningless/

US Scientists Discover Powerful Antibodies for HIV
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703609004575355072271264394.html

Words you cannot say at Naval War College
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/07/06/youtube

Press Briefing

Jul 08, 2010

The White House Blog: Progress on the National Export Initiative & Job Creation
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/07/progress-national-export-initiative-job-creation

The New Start Treaty: Time for a Careful Look - The Senate shouldn't rubber stamp an arms control strategy rooted in a vision of 'nuclear zero' without opening up the negotiating record
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704293604575343360850107760.html

The White House Blog - Solar and Smart Grid: Powering a Clean Energy Future
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/07/solar-and-smart-grid-powering-a-clean-energy-future

The Right Way to Raise Wages - The president's drive to strengthen unions will increase unemployment
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703881504575344993924756892.html

The White House Blog: How Affordable Care Act Helps Veterans
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/07/how-affordable-care-act-helps-veterans

The Superfund Bait and Switch - Reviving another tax on business
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325022212103684.html

U.S. Embassy Santiago: Ambassador Simons Launches Eco-Friendly Project at Fourth of July Celebration
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/embassy_santiago_july_fourth

The Arabs on Iran - The U.A.E. ambassador tells the truth
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703636404575353230693833718.html

Patient Assistance Programs - Since the launch of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance program in April 2005, over 6 million patients have been matched with programs that provide free or nearly free medicines
http://innovation.org/index.cfm/ToolsandResources/Patient_Assistance_Programs

Unemployment Benefits Aren't Stimulus - Let's not reduce the incentive to find work. A federal tax holiday is a better way to cut the high jobless rate.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862404575351301788376276.html

Conference on sub-Saharan Africa : Women's Inclusion and Participation. By Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues
http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/rls/rem/2010/144053.htm

Conservatives on Federal President's Dr. Donald Berwick: "The Rationer-in-Chief"
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/07/morning-bell-the-rationer-in-chief

Secretary Clinton Holds Town Hall With Georgian Women Leaders
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/travel_diary_clinton_georgian_women_leaders

Swede Bites Dog: Moderate Party-linked students offer to load and unload Israeli cargo
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862404575350534066015218.html

IMF: World growth is projected at about 4½ percent in 2010 and 4¼ percent in 2011. Relative to the April 2010 World Economic Outlook (WEO), this represents an upward revision of about ½ percentage point in 2010, reflecting stronger activity during the first half of the year.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/update/02/index.htm

WTO issues panel report on Airbus dispute
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news10_e/316r_e.htm

Dissent in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/07/07/dissent-in-the-iranian-revolutionary-guards