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

Press Briefing

Jul 07, 2010

The White House Blog: Moving Forward to Protect Seniors' Care
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/06/moving-forward-protect-seniors-care

Iran and Hezbollah's Spiritual Leader - In Lebanon, a struggle over the legacy of the late Ayatollah Fadlallah
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862404575350951440367406.html

President Obama's Meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu: Gaza, Iran, Nuclear Weapons & Peace
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/06/president-obamas-meeting-with-prime-minister-netanyahu-gaza-iran-nuclear-weapons-pea

Keynes vs. Hayek: The Great Debate Continues - Newly discovered letters from two great economists shed light on today's discussion of economic 'stimulus'
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704738404575347300609199056.html

Chronicle of currency collapses: re-examining the effects on output. By Matthieu Bussière, Sweta C Saxena and Camilo Tovar, BIS Working Papers No 314
http://www.bis.org/publ/work314.htm

Conservatives: When Bibi Met Barack (Take Four) - At least Israel's Prime Minister is no longer a White House pariah
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862404575351153983787416.html

Security Companies Cash in on Anti-Piracy Operations
http://www.idga.org/article.cfm?externalid=2048

Suing Arizona - How not to forge an immigration reform consensus
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704026204575266530340495538.html

Persistent Forecasting of Disruptive Technologies--Report 2
http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12834

A Case Study in Teacher Bailouts - Milwaukee shows that unions will keep resisting concessions if Washington rides to the rescue
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704535004575348980568232888.html

Diplomacy Briefing Series: Conference on sub-Saharan Africa, by Judith A. McHale, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
http://www.state.gov/r/remarks/144051.htm

The Massachusetts Health-Care 'Train Wreck' - The future of ObamaCare is unfolding here: runaway spending, price controls, even limits on care and medical licensing
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704324304575306861120760580.html

The Future of the Board of Directors
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/2010/07/06/the-future-of-the-board-of-directors/

Behold, the Subprime Shmoe - Joseph Cassano is getting his reputation back thanks to Phil Angelides
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862404575350750189985926.html

Small study reveals same-sex parenting good for kids
http://progressive.org/mpmonifa070610.html

Conservatives: Remember the Gulf
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/06/morning-bell-remember-the-gulf

Press Briefing

Jul 06, 2010

Secy. Kathleen Sebelius To Take Your Questions on Health Care
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHjO9bCMP9o

Obama the Great? How scholars rank federal presidents
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704293604575342960139505760.html

Secretary Clinton Meets With Georgian President Saakashvili
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/travel_diary_clinton_saakashvili

The Myth of the Back-to-the-City Migration - The condo bust should lay to rest the notion that the American love affair with suburbia is over
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575337100515285886.html

Federal Vicepresident: Wrapping Up My Visit to Iraq
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/05/wrapping-my-visit-iraq

The Connecticut-New York Border War - Politicians discover that hedge funds pay a lot of taxes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575340930936736518.html

A Trillion Unintended Consequences - Dodd-Frank's last minute assault on Main Street derivatives
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575341164173889670.html

"Civil Society: Supporting Democracy in the 21st Century," at the Community of Democracies. By State Sec Clinton, Slowacki Theater, Krakow, Poland
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/143952.htm

The Government Pay Bonus - Private employees toil 13½ months to earn what federal workers do in 12
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303828304575180421298413374.html

U.S.-Poland Bilateral Missile Defense Signing and Joint Press Availability With Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski. By State Sec Clinton. City Hall, Krakow, Poland
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/143948.htm

Europe Remakes a Pact - The best discipline for the EU is still market discipline
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339181347099198.html

Press Briefing

Jul 05, 2010

First Lady: Supporting Our Military Families
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/04/supporting-our-military-families

More on "This Time Is Different": a quantitative reconstruction of hundreds of historical episodes in which perfectly smart people made perfectly disastrous decisions
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/business/economy/04econ.html

Remarks At the Closing of the Strategic Partnership Commission. By State Sec Clinton. Kyiv, Ukraine
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/07/143934.htm

Democrats said during the Kagan hearings that the Roberts court has shown a pro-corporate bias
http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/230724/you-cant-count-it/matthew-j-franck

Obama's national security officials, on the night watch
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/02/AR2010070202983.html

Expanding Crime and Punishment in Tibet
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/barnett2/English

As American power wanes in the Middle East, regional powers seek to fill the void
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575341074070168744.html

Maximizing the Value and Impact of East African Broadband for Higher Education. By Judith A. McHale, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Keynote Speech at the East Africa ICT and Higher Education Symposium 2010
http://www.state.gov/r/remarks/143907.htm

Independence Day in Siberia - From a former Soviet Army truck driver, I learned the blessings of being an American
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575341442497326842.html

Promoting Practices that Reflect our Ideals: A Sharper Focus for International Migration Policy. By Eric P. Schwartz, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Seventh Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, Georgetown University Law and Conference Center
http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/rmks/2010/143900.htm

Australian Tax Retreat - Kevin Rudd's 'super-profits' levy follows him out the door
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704898504575342183121009598.html

Fast growing birds can eat Liberty-Link Corn
http://academicsreview.org/reviewed-content/genetic-roulette/section-1/1-17-liberty-link-gm-maize-is-safe/

IMF Forum Considers Principles of Managing Public Debt in the Context of Market Turbulence
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr10275.htm

Private Jobs Strike - Another disappointing employment report
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704293604575343190840956602.html

Press Briefing

Jul 02, 2010

Promoting Practices that Reflect our Ideals: A Sharper Focus for International Migration Policy. By Eric P. Schwartz, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Seventh Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, Georgetown University Law and Conference Center
http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/rmks/2010/143900.htm

U.S. National Voluntary Presentation, by Melanne Verveer. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues
http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/rls/rem/2010/143882.htm

Oil dispersant does not pose environmental threat, early EPA findings suggest
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/30/AR2010063004358.html

Do not use the Army to fight the Naxalites
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/AlwaysintheLineofFire_220610

Afghanistan and the 'Resource Curse' - With its newly discovered mineral wealth, it could end up like Nigeria. Or like Mexico
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338461852379140.html

U.S. Counterterrorism Policy, by Robert F. Godec, Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism. Global Young Leaders Conference, Washington, DC
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/2010/143809.htm

High Speed Rail in America: Hope We Can Believe in
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-matthews/high-speed-rail-in-americ_b_630081.html

Reconfirming John Roberts - Why Democrats are targeting the Chief Justice
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575340721773147414.html

Iran Sanctions: Where We Go From Here - A coordinated strategy by the U.S. and the European Union will determine success or failure
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338443415494022.html

The Obama Tax Trap - How some Republicans are preparing to walk right into it
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338991852947182.html

The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market - Implications for Employment and Earnings
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/04/job_polarization_report.html

Why Is the Gulf Cleanup So Slow? - There are obvious actions to speed things up, but the government oddly resists taking them
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339650877298556.html

Terrorist Use of the Internet, by Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism. Joint U.S. Embassy and Philippine Welcome. 2nd Tri-Border Conference, Manila, Philippines
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/2010/143876.htm

"A nation of laws and a nation of immigrants"
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/elizabethchan/gGGGPc

Maureen Dowd Critiques: 'Thin-Skinned' Federal President Doesn't Like Media Portrayal
http://www.mrc.org/timeswatch/articles/2010/20100701100634.aspx

Standing Up to the Unholy Alliance Between Washington and Wall Street
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-russ-feingold/standing-up-to-the-unholy_b_630834.html

The Three Biggest Myths About Tax Cuts and the Budget Deficit
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/The-Three-Biggest-Myths-About-Tax-Cuts-and-the-Budget-Deficit

IMF Staff: The Fundamental Determinants of Credit Default Risk for European Large Complex Financial Institutions
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=23997.0

The Limitless Power of the Obama-Kagan Congress
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/07/01/morning-bell-the-limitless-power-of-the-obama-kagan-congress/

Press Briefing

Jul 01, 2010

10th Anniversary of Ukraine Women's Fund, by Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. Kyiv, Ukraine
http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/rls/rem/2010/143794.htm

Remarks at Enough Project Panel on Conflict Minerals, by Robert D. Hormats, Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs. Remarks as Prepared for Delivery. Washington, DC
http://www.state.gov/e/rls/rmk/2010/143784.htm

The Global Jobs Competition Heats Up - In a new study, corporate leaders say the U.S. business environment is losing its edge when compared countries like China, India and Brazil
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338553459934636.html

India’s strategic advantage over China in Africa
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/IndiasstrategicadvantageoverChinainAfrica_cxavier_300610

Hastings College of the Law, Christian Legal Society case - The Supreme Court's 'Subsidies': The Justices erode freedom of association
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575336863778626670.html

Statement from the President on the Passage of Financial Reform
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-passage-financial-reform

Kagan's Commerce Show-and-Tell - Hints about her views on ObamaCare
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339091601340672.html

Indo Pak Rapprochement: Unexplored Option of Military to Military Engagement
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/IndiaPakistanRapprochementUnexploredOptionofMilitarytoMilitaryEngagement_250610

Libertarians: RomneyCare Unleashed Adverse Selection, As Will ObamaCare
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/06/30/romneycare-unleashed-adverse-selection-as-will-obamacare/

U.S.-Saudi Arabia Fact Sheet
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/143770.htm

Teacher Tenure Breakout - The new D.C. contract could be a national reform model
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335220892954324.html

Libertarians On Immigrants and Crime: Perception vs. Reality
http://www.cato.org/pubs/irb/irb_june2010.pdf

G-20 leaders don't agree with the president that more spending will revive the economy. Nor do most Americans.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338832391393128.html

Research on global financial stability: the use of BIS international financial statistics
http://www.bis.org/publ/cgfs40.htm

New Industry Study: Kerry-Lieberman to Destroy Up to 5.1 Million Jobs, Cost Families $1,042 per Year, Wealthiest Americans to Benefit
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/06/30/new-study-kerry-lieberman-to-destroy-up-to-5-1-million-jobs-cost-families-1042-per-year-wealthiest-americans-to-benefit

Vice President Biden's Visit With General Petraeus
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/photo-release-vice-president-bidens-visit-with-general-petraeus

The Dodd-Frank Financial Fiasco - The bill all but guarantees bailouts as far as the eye can see, while failing to address real problems like Fan and Fred and our outdated bankruptcy code
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338732174405398.html

CBO: The Long-Term Budget Outlook
http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=11579

Obama’s Oil Spill To-Do List
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/30/morning-bell-obamas-oil-spill-to-do-list

Espionage History and the 'Russian 10' - The arrest of 'sleeper agents' on U.S. soil is the stuff of spy novels, not the Cold War
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575336891106184782.html

Gun Shy - Four Supreme Court justices make the case against constitutional rights
http://reason.com/archives/2010/06/30/gun-shy

The Rise and Fall of Bear Stearns
http://www.newsweek-interactive.com/2010/06/22/the-rise-and-fall-of-bear-stearns.html

Clinton-Obama: The back story
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=5CED0946-18FE-70B2-A8AE39B9414B15C5

Press Briefing

Jan 30, 2010

India, Buddhism and Geopolitics in Central Asia: Regaining Centrality
http://www.idsa.in/policybrief/IndiaBuddhismandGeopoliticsinCentralAsia_pstobdan_250610

The Road to Kabul Runs Through Islamabad - Pakistani leaders are desperate to broker a deal with Karzai and the Haqqani network. Petraeus understands why.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575336551084011556.html

The Boris and Natasha Show - Stealing American secrets is standard Putin procedure
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575336894211289122.html

The Bucyrus Travesty - A tale of two loan guarantees
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575334912606052680.html

Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the President's National Space Policy Via Teleconference
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/143752.htm

Why Obamanomics Has Failed - Uncertainty about future taxes and regulations is enemy No. 1 of economic growth
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325233508651458.html

‘Not since FDR has a president done so much to transform a country’http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/joshpeck/gGGGd7

Right now, the U.S. path leads from debt to deflation to stagflation. There's got to be a better way.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575336812620632500.html

The White House - Elena Kagan's Strong Support of the Military
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/29/elena-kagans-strong-support-military

The Bailout Tax - The latest reason to oppose Dodd-Frank
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704103904575336900576460806.html

National Space Policy
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entries/national_space_policy/

Price Transparency in Health Care: Will it Bend the Cost Curve?
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/28/price-transparency-in-health-care-will-it-bend-the-cost-curve/

Kagan’s clerkship with Thurgood Marshall a huge asset
http://progressive.org/mpgilmore062910.html

The Dodd-Frank Assault on Economic Recovery
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/29/morning-bell-the-dodd-frank-assault-on-economic-recovery

Press Briefing

Jun 29, 2010

WH: Elena Kagan's Opening Testimonyhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/28/elena-kagans-opening-testimony

Sarbox Survives - A modest victory for Presidential power
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335120132757264.html

The Supreme Court's Gun Showdown - Privileges or Immunities Clause
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335060436777670.html

The White House Blog - President Obama on the Loss of Senator Robert Byrd: "A Voice of Principle and Reason"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/28/president-obama-loss-senator-robert-byrd-a-voice-principle-and-reason

King of Pork—and Proud of It - Robert Byrd made the most of his time in the Senate
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335074107246354.html

The President's Plan to Increase Spectrum - Technology & the Economy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/28/presidents-plan-increase-spectrum-technology-economy

Panetta's Bomb - Now the CIA tells us Iran is going nuclear, and sanctions won't work
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335242943136462.html

Cutting Waste by Reforming IThttp://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/28/cutting-waste-reforming-it

Afghanistan: Eyes Wide Shut - Federal President's ambivalence toward the war is energizing our enemies and undermining our allies
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335103325554236.html

The White House Blog - Improved Access to Preventive Care for Seniors
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/28/improved-access-preventive-care-seniors

Five Gun Salute - The High Court's four liberals are holding out to overturn Heller
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575334721392301704.html

IMF Analsyt Study: Currency Hedging for International Portfolios. By Jochen M. Schmittmann
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=23994.0
Summary: This paper examines the benefits from hedging the currency exposure of international investments in single- and multi-country equity and bond portfolios from the perspectives of German, Japanese, British and American investors. Over the period 1975 to 2009, hedging of currency risk substantially reduced the volatility of foreign investments at a quarterly  investment horizon. Contrary to previous studies, the paper finds that at longer investment horizons of up to five years the case for hedging for risk reduction purposes remained strong.In addition to its impact on risk, hedging affected returns in economically meaningful magnitudes in some cases.

The End of Community Banking - Creditworthy borrowers will be denied loans as small banks devote more and more energy to regulatory compliance
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575334611037072320.html

White House Open For Questions: Energy and Climate Legislation with Heather Zichal
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/28/open-questions-energy-and-climate-legislation-with-heather-zichal

Stopping the Slick, Saving the Environment: A Framework for Response, Recovery, and Resiliency
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/Stopping-the-Slick-Saving-the-Environment-A-Framework-for-Response-Recovery-and-Resiliency

U.S., Pakistan Hold Strategic Dialogue on Health Issues
http://blogs.state.gov/ap/index.php/site/entry/pakistan_health

Will Elena Kagan Defend the Rule of Law?
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/28/morning-bell-will-elena-kagan-defend-the-rule-of-law/

Press Briefing

Jun 28, 2010

EPA Bans Human "Guinea Pig" Studies
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1574/news_detail.asp

Krugman: The Third Depression
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html

Canada: Land of the Free - At the G-20 summit in Toronto this weekend it will lead the charge against new bank taxes and for spending restraint. Who says our neighbor is boring?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704911704575327140759374532.html

The German Experiment - The government sets a premium price on solar and other alternative power sources. The policy offers lessons in ways to encourage the use of renewable energy.
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/25577/

Generation Gap - The Kerry-Lieberman energy bill would enervate America
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325263787161900.html

Why Friedrich Hayek Is Making a Comeback - With the failure of Keynesian stimulus, the late Austrian economist's ideas on state power and crony capitalism are getting a new hearing
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704911704575326500718166146.html

WaPo on Kagan: A Supreme conversation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/27/AR2010062703251.html

Kagan's Commerce Clause - Can Congress compel Americans to do anything?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294664227510730.html

The White House Blog - A Cause for Hope
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/25/a-cause-hope

On S Korea Trade Agreement: Smart trade
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/27/AR2010062703255.html

Korean Trade Epiphany - Federal President discovers the benefits of an agreement he has disdained for three years
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704212804575333310935427760.html

Forbes on Hillary Clinton As Accidental Supply-Sider - She's right about Brazil's growth. She's wrong about its tax rates
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575329252152750186.html

Petraeus and Obama's Uncertain Trumpet - There is a mismatch between the general's Afghan mission and the president's summons to his countrymen
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575328691752054592.html

The White House Blog: Keeping Up with the G8 and G20
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/26/keeping-with-g8-and-g20

Triumph of the Regulators - The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill doubles down on the same system that failed
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575328993006115992.html

Weekly Address: Finishing the Job on Wall Street Reform
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/26/weekly-address-finishing-job-wall-street-reform

The Kevin Rudd Lesson - Australia's prime minister fell because he threatened the nation's economic prosperity
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704911704575326023964421524.html

In 2009, U.S. Led the Rest of the World in Increases of Oil and Natural Gas Production; China Recorded the Greatest Increase in Energy Consumption and Emissions
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/06/25/in-2009-u-s-led-the-rest-of-the-world-in-increases-of-oil-and-natural-gas-production-china-recorded-the-greatest-increase-in-energy-consumption-and-emissions/

Press Briefing

Jun 26, 2010

Shaping a Common Vision of Security between Russia and the United States. By Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary,

Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation. Ploughshares Fund-PIR Centre Conference. Moscow, Russia
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/143675.htm

Do Developed and Developing Countries Compete Head to Head in High-tech? By Lawrence Edwards, Robert Z. Lawrence
NBER Working Paper No. 16105
http://papers.nber.org/papers/w16105#fromrss
Concerns that (1) growth in developing countries could worsen the US terms of trade and (2) that increased US trade

with developing countries will increase US wage inequality both implicitly reflect the assumption that goods produced

in the United States and developing countries are close substitutes and that specialization is incomplete. In this

paper we show on the contrary that there are distinctive patterns of international specialization and that developed

and developing countries export fundamentally different products, especially those classified as high tech.

The Great Danes: Cultural Values and Neoliberal Reforms
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1629940
The paper examines the relationship between civic values and neoliberal reforms. It shows that countries with more

idealistic (or civic-minded) cultural attitudes also have more neoliberal economic policies. In addition, countries

with more idealistic cultural values moved most rapidly toward market reforms after 1980. In less civic-minded

cultures, rent-seeking special interest groups blocked reform, even as the superiority of the neoliberal economic

model became increasingly apparent.

Humanoid Robot Justin Learning To Fix Satellites
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/humanoid-robot-justin-learning-to-fix-satellites

Jobs and Financial Regulation Reform: A Preliminary Look
http://americanactionforum.org/files/Jobs_FinReg.pdf

DLC: Ban the Gerrymander
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=255166&kaid=450022&subid=900228

Libertarian: Rethinking jobless benefits
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38990.html

Conservatives: Halting the Explosive Growth of Welfare Entitlements
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/25/morning-bell-halting-the-explosive-growth-of-welfare-entitlements

Press Briefing

Jan 25, 2010

On BPA: Speak Up, Science & Industry -- or Forever Hold Your Peace
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1565/news_detail.asp

Obama Is Missing in Action on Gay Rights - Ted Olson is on the right side of history. When will the president step up?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325231395396708.html

Ambassador Eikenberry Receives First Honorary Degree From National Military Academy of Afghanistan
http://blogs.state.gov/ap/index.php/site/entry/eikenberry_nmaa

A Weakened U.S. Goes to the G-20 - In Toronto, summiteers will be courting China—not the U.S.—as the world's pre-eminent source of dollar financing
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325240077856192.html

Petraeus's Opportunity - His selection reassures our Afghan allies that the U.S. will not begin substantial troop reductions until the Afghans can handle the insurgents on their own
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704911704575326862770750660.html

The Roundtable's Great Awakening - Big business discovers President Obama's 'hostile environment.'
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575324821751980744.html



Breakthrough in Capturing Lost Energy in Solar Cells - "Hot carrier" solar cells could be twice as efficient as today's
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/breakthrough-in-capturing-lost-energy-in-solar-cells

Why It's Safer to Drill in the 'Backyard' - Texas has had 102 oil and gas well blowouts since the start of 2006, without catastrophic consequences
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050804575318591702015252.html

The White House Blog - Reset with Russia Continues
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/24/reset-with-russia-continues

Repeal ObamaCare: Yes We Can
http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/in-the-news/repeal-obamacare-yes-we-can

Policies of Scarcity in a Land of Plenty
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/06/23/policies-of-scarcity-in-a-land-of-plenty/

Conrad Black's Revenge - The Supreme Court reins in a vague and often abused law
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704289504575312512968461310.html

Assistant Secretary Brimmer Speaks With Students at John Cabot University. By Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Organization Affairs. Rome, Italy
http://www.state.gov/p/io/rm/2010/143600.htm

No Rush to Judgment on New START
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/24/morning-bell-no-rush-to-judgment-on-new-start

Press Briefing

Jun 24, 2010

Using Comparative Effectiveness Research to Improve the Health of Priority Populations
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2010/0603_comparative_effectiveness.aspx

BIS Annual Reports 1931 to 1996
http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/archive/index.htm

War Is No Place for Libel Law - A federal court slaps down a novel claim from a Sudanese business bombed by the U.S. in 1998
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575320840303274372.html

A Missed Opportunity on Financial Reform - How could Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have escaped Congress's attention?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322491510468572.html

U.S. Assistance in Response to the Current Humanitarian Crisis in the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/143576.htm

Democrats and the McChrystal Fiasco - They politicized generals during the Bush administration and fomented distrust between civilian and military leaders
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575324610902472990.html

The White House Blog - The Secret Life of White House Bees
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/23/secret-life-white-house-bees

The Family Business Revenue Act - A tax on the wealthy becomes a tax on mom and pop
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325031494469728.html

Al Gore & D Blood: Toward Sustainable Capitalism - Long-term incentives are the antidote to short-term greed
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575323112076444850.html

Volcker and Derivatives - The end game for financial reform
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575323032606552688.html

President Obama on LGBT Pride Month: Extraordinary Progress, But Hard Work Left to Do
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/23/president-obama-lgbt-pride-month-extraordinary-progress-hard-work-left-do

The Petraeus Hail Mary - Obama makes a wise choice, but the general needs more support
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325073086949444.html

How the UN Can Contribute to International Cooperation on Climate Change. By Maria Otero, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs. NY-Alesund Symposium, Svalbard, Norway
http://www.state.gov/g/143563.htm

Federal Presidents’s Leadership Vacuum
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/23/morning-bell-obamas-leadership-vacuum

It's Time America Had a Fat President
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11912

Press Briefing

Jun 23, 2010

Implementing the Affordable Care Act
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7vQ4KWXzMc

The "government needs to be removing itself from the private sector"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322931249166908.html

The White House Blog - The Affordable Care Act -- Benefits and Weights Being Lifted
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/22/afforadable-care-act-benefits-and-weights-being-lifted

$100,000 Is Plenty for Deposit Insurance - Raising the cap will enhance the ability of weak banks to expand their deposit base and cause trouble for the FDIC
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050804575319051157716956.html

America and the Middle East in a New Era
http://www.state.gov/p/us/rm/2010/136721.htm

Obama's Moratorium, Drilled. WSJ Editorial
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575323203174960586.html
A federal judge instructs the White House on the rule of law
WSJ, Jun 23, 2010

As legal rebukes go, it's hard to get more comprehensive than the one federal judge Martin Feldman delivered yesterday in overturning the Obama Administration's six-month moratorium on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a remarkably pointed 22-page ruling, the judge made clear that even Presidents aren't allowed to impose an "edict" that isn't justified by science or safety.

Oil-services companies brought the case, which is supported by the state of Louisiana, arguing that the White House ban was "arbitrary and capricious" in exceeding federal authority, and Judge Feldman agreed. He noted that even after reading Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's report on safety recommendations (which included the ban), and Mr. Salazar's memo ordering the ban, "the Court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the findings and the immense scope of the moratorium."

Quite the opposite, said the judge, "the Report makes no effort to explicitly justify the moratorium." It does "not discuss any irreparable harm that would warrant a suspension of operations" and doesn't provide a timeline for implementing proposed safety regulations. There is "no evidence" that Mr. Salazar "balanced the concern for environmental safety" with existing policy, and "no suggestion" that he "considered any alternatives." The feds couldn't even coherently define "deep water." Ouch.

As these columns have argued, the judge said that the illogic of the moratorium is that "because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger." Because this will cause "irreparable harm" to jobs and to domestic energy supplies, such a sweeping ban couldn't stand.

The judge also went out of his way to express "uneasiness" over the Administration's claim that its safety report (which recommended the ban) had been "peer reviewed" by experts. Those experts have since publicly disavowed the ban, explaining that the ban was added to the report only after they had signed off on an earlier draft. White House green czar Carol Browner dismissed their complaints, saying "No one's been deceived or misrepresented."

But Judge Feldman directly contradicted Ms. Browner, describing the report's claim of "peer review" as "factually incorrect." Moreover, the Administration's "hair-splitting explanation" of what the experts did or didn't support "abuses reason, common sense, and the text at issue."

The judge's other public service was to list the environmental groups that had joined the Administration's defense against the suit. They included the Natural Resources Defense Council, whose president, Frances Beinecke, has been appointed by President Obama to his deep water drilling commission. Ms. Beinecke ought to resign.

The Administration says it will appeal, but the thorough-going nature of the judge's ruling suggests the Administration will need a much better legal and substantive case to prevail. It would do better to use the ruling as an excuse to drop its purely political ban and stop compounding the spill's damage to the people and economy of the Gulf.



Bosnia and Herzegovina: Promoting Security By Destroying Conventional Weapons
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/bosnia_herzegovina_conventional_weapons

Orszag Adieu - The 'cost curve' bent the budget director
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322850840791986.html

Geithner & Summers: Our Agenda for the G-20 - Countries should work to stabilize debt levels, enact new financial regulation, and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322791729932502.html

Blowouts Will Not Always Be Prevented - We are curiously unwilling to acknowledge known risks
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322760763424460.html

Why McChrystal Has to Go - It is intolerable for military officers to mock senior political officials, including ambassadors and the vice president
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322800914018876.html

Fire McChrystal Pronto
http://progressive.org/wx062210.html

IER Statement on Court Order Overturning Obama Admin. Deepwater Drilling Ban
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/06/22/ier-statement-on-court-order-overturning-obama-admin-deepwater-drilling-ban/

The White House Blog: Building Regional Energy Innovation Cluster
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/22/building-regional-energy-innovation-clusters

Daddy Was Only a Donor - A new study paints a troubling portrait of children conceived by single mothers who chose insemination
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704324304575306851423563346.html

China Currency 2.0: Yes, Change Really Is Coming
http://blogs.forbes.com/china/2010/06/21/china-currency-2-0-yes-change-really-is-coming/

Conservatives: Time to Dump the Afghanistan Timeline
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/22/morning-bell-time-to-dump-the-afghanistan-timeline/

Moral Hazard and China's Banks - Beijing could face its own banking crisis unless more market discipline is introduced

Moral Hazard and China's Banks. By VICTOR SHIH
Beijing could face its own banking crisis unless more market discipline is introduced.WSJ, Jun 22, 2010

Some policy makers in Beijing have taken to crowing that their economic model is superior to the West's because China didn't suffer a banking crisis. They're wrong in at least one critical respect: moral hazard. In China, just as in the West, banks and businesses have grown accustomed to gambling with other people's money on the assumption that the government will bail them out if they lose.

The key fact governing most credit and investment decisions today is that everyone believes the central bank would bail out any financial institution, large or small. The central government has consistently repaid depositors in the event of bank closures. The promise is different from, and worse than, traditional deposit insurance in that banks don't pay a premium for the benefit—it just happens.
[chiecon]

This causes ripples throughout the financial system. Depositors and investors are at ease with placing much of their savings into financial institutions because of the central bank's blanket guarantee, allowing these institutions to provide ample liquidity to firms. The guarantee also minimizes the chance of a panic, thus enforcing everyone's confidence in the system.

Two other regulations help bolster a deceptive sense of security. First, the China Banking Regulatory Commission imposes a large basket of prudential targets on all banks, including capital-adequacy ratio, debt-asset ratio and nonperforming-loan ratio requirements, as well as a long list of lending rules. Furthermore, the Communist Party sends inspectors to monitor the banking regulators.

The guarantee and intrusive regulations make the system less secure, not more. Given the ultimate backstop, profits from risky behavior can be so high that banks are willing to share some of the spoils with corrupt regulators who can help them circumvent bothersome rules. In one recent case, the vice president of the China Development Bank was convicted of receiving bribes to grant loans against regulations. In another case, a banker in southern Guangdong province bribed local police to arrest an auditor evaluating the bank branch's books.

This kind of behavior would be difficult in a system with a freer media and an independent judiciary. But China's system depends mainly on top-down monitoring, where a borrower need only elicit the help of a powerful official. As an added benefit, if the loan fails, borrowers can work with banks to roll over loans with the regulators' full blessing.

As a consequence, financial-system risks build up over time at an unknown pace. Small crises are not allowed to emerge to inform the public of accumulating systemic risks—unlike in the United States, where a growing number of small bank failures can serve as a canary in a coal mine.

The only way to avert a future crisis of confidence is to tackle moral hazard. First, the central bank's blanket guarantee should be removed from small financial institutions that engage in reckless lending. Depositors must learn to be suspicious of banks doing the bidding of ambitious local authorities.

Second, while it may be difficult to take similar steps for large banks because of systemic risks, these institutions should be required to disclose when large-scale borrowers restructure or roll over major loans. Instead of only reporting the identities of the largest borrowers overall, listed banks should disclose the identities of their largest borrowers in every province or even city so that investors can conduct their own due diligence.

Third, regulators also need to rethink the incentives their rules create. The current system of imposing target caps on nonperforming loans encourages bankers and local regulators to collude to hide them. These targets should be scrapped in favor of higher capital-adequacy ratios and much stricter restrictions on borrowers' ability to roll over loans or to convert short-term loans into long-term loans. If losses arise, banks should be encouraged to simply recognize them and move on.

China's moral hazard problem manifests itself somewhat differently from that in the West, but the end result is the same: If all financial institutions are perceived as too big to fail, while misguided regulations give a false impression of safety, plenty of bankers and investors will be happy to take advantage.

Mr. Shih is a professor of political science at Northwestern University and the author of "Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation" (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Press Briefing

Jan 22, 2010

Resolving the financial crisis: are we heeding the lessons from the Nordics?, by Claudio Borio, Bent Vale and Goetz von Peter. Bis Working Papers No 311
http://www.bis.org/publ/work311.htm

A Battle Against the Odds - How tribal leaders helped the U.S. in Iraq—and the lessons for Afghanistan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050804575319821523248194.html

An Update from the President on the BP Oil Spill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij4ngpNcsW0

Moral Hazard and China's Banks - Beijing could face its own banking crisis unless more market discipline is introduced
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050804575319582177841808.html

Iran's Democratic Manifesto - Mousavi has issued a clear call for democracy, the separation of mosque and state, and a gentler foreign policy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575310753382427596.html

The Sotomayor Precedent - Obama's nominee joins the Ninth Circuit, loses three times
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575320840247308772.html

Live Video: Secretary Clinton To Deliver Remarks Celebrating LGBT Pride Month
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/secretary_clinton_lgbt_pride_month

Colombia Speaks - But will the Federal President listen?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575320833372467878.html

The White House Blog - The President's Record on Border Security
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/21/presidents-record-border-security

The Antidrilling Commission - The White House choices seem to have made up their minds
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575320892241446242.html
 "Under my Administration, the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over. . . To undermine scientific integrity is to undermine our democracy. . . I want to be sure that facts are driving scientific decisions, and not the other way around."
            —President Obama, April 27, 2009

A Negotiated Solution for Afghanistan? - Whatever his other weaknesses, President Karzai is not about to surrender to the Taliban at the peace table
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050804575319263117995160.html

UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, by Elizabeth Verville, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Remarks at a High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly, NYC
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/rm/143406.htm

A Visit Inside Turkey's Islamist IHH - A journalist's trip to the headquarters of the extremist group that sponsored the Mavi Marmara
http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/visit-turkey-islamist-ihh

Farewell to the Shadow Shoguns
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/koike6/English

The Obama Speech We're Waiting For: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to get the BP treatment
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575320922399530274.html

Iran and the European Moment - The Continent has no more excuses not to act against Tehran
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704122904575314880833508458.html

Decks are stacked against China keeping its stake in Korea game
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20100606bc.html

Can 'Pashtunistan' end the Af-Pak war?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/1/can-pashtunistan-end-the-af-pak-war/

Firms paid to shut down wind farms when the wind is blowing - Britain's biggest wind farm companies are to be paid not to produce electricity when the wind is blowing
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/7840035/Firms-paid-to-shut-down-wind-farms-when-the-wind-is-blowing.html

Press Briefing

Jan 21, 2010

Chomsky's Nightmare: Is Fascism Coming to America?
http://progressive.org/rothschild0610.html

Time to Stand Up to the National Standards Agenda
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/21/morning-bell-time-to-stand-up-to-the-national-standards-agenda

Churchill's Stogie Up In Smoke
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1549/news_detail.asp

On Eric Jaffe's The King's Best Highway - The Lost History of the Boston Post Road, the Route that Made America
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575311071004764364.html

WH Blog: President Obama Breaks Ground on 10,000th Recovery Act Road Project; Let the Summer of Recovery begin!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/18/president-obama-breaks-ground-10000th-recovery-act-road-project-let-summer-recovery-

Think Globally, Sue Locally - The plaintiffs bar goes international and focuses on trashing a corporation's image
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704002104575291101685354766.html

On the Precautionary Principle: The Gulf disaster rehabilitates a discredited idea - The 'Paralyzing' Principle
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703389004575304931124455048.html

Pakistan's Medieval Constitution - It is the only Muslim nation to explicitly define who is or is not a 'Muslim'
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575311043632237762.html

The China Currency Syndrome - World leaders would do better to worry less about imbalances and more about whether their own nations are pursuing policies that contribute to global prosperity
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704365204575317691493370612.html

U.S. Will Contribute Additional $60 Million to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/unrwa_refugees

ObamaCare and the Independent Vote - Voter opposition hasn't changed, and it could be decisive in November
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704289504575312610438320480.html

Ending Lobbyist Appointments to Agency Boards and Commissions
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/18/ending-lobbyist-appointments-agency-boards-and-commissions

Capital-Control Comeback - As money flows to Asia, politicians play King Canute
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704289504575312080651478488.html

Celebrex: Something to Celebrate
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1548/news_detail.asp

Federal President Weekly Address: Republicans Blocking Progress
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/19/weekly-address-republicans-blocking-progress

Conservatives: Married Fathers-America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/Married-Fathers-Americas-Greatest-Weapon-Against-Child-Poverty

Press Briefing

Jan 19, 2010

Why Pakistan Must Change Its Priorities - ISI and the Taliban
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11902

Adjustments to the Basel II market risk framework announced by the Basel Committee
http://www.bis.org/press/p100618.htm

Free eBook: Cult of the Presidency - America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power
http://www.cato.org/cult-of-the-presidency/

The Vanity Tax - The trouble with the government's new tax on indoor tanning services
http://reason.com/archives/2010/06/17/the-vanity-tax

Surfing the Chinternet - What hides behind the "Great Firewall" of China?
http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/surfing-chinternet

Why is the United States Always the Supplicant? Part of the answer, no doubt, is our uninhibited displays of eagerness
http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/why-united-states-always-supplicant

US Helps Drought-Affected Niger With First Award Under the Emergency Food Security Program
http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2010/pr100617.html

On NASA's comments to EPA Fears of Formaldehyde
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1540/news_detail.asp

Scoop: KUKA's youBot Mobile Manipulator Unveiled
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/scoop-kukas-youbot

EPA Foments Baseless Fear of Formaldehyde
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1538/news_detail.asp

Keep Your Junk Science Off My Salt
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.1541/news_detail.asp

How 'Protectionist' Became An Insult - As Congress dawdles on trade agreements, the harsh results of the Smoot-Hawley tariff should not be forgotten
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704575304575296610452014710.html

The Trouble With Teacher Tenure - We can't make progress if bad teachers have jobs for life

The Trouble With Teacher Tenure. By TIMOTHY KNOWLES
We can't make progress if bad teachers have jobs for life.WSJ, Jun 18, 2010

Colorado did right by its kids recently when Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law groundbreaking education reform to overhaul teacher tenure and evaluation. The bill elicited an outcry from many teachers. But the many states now considering similar measures must not be cowed by the firestorm.

As a former teacher, principal and district leader, I've devoted my life to providing children with the excellent education they deserve. And in my 23 years on the job, there are two things I've learned for certain.

First, teachers have a greater impact on student learning than any other school-based factor. Second, we will not produce excellent schools without eliminating laws and practices that guarantee teachers—regardless of their performance—jobs for life.

Nearly everyone in public education has a story that illustrates the Kafkaesque process of trying to remove a tenured teacher. Mine involves a teacher in Boston who napped each day in the back of the room while students copied from the board. Despite repeated efforts, the district failed to fire him.

Such anecdotes are reinforced by hard data. An award-winning study of Illinois school districts over an 18-year period found an average of two tenured teachers out of 95,000 were dismissed for underperformance each year. Nationally, between 0.1% and 1% of tenured teachers are dismissed annually, according to the Center for American Progress.

It's not news that students suffer when very low-performing teachers are allowed to remain in the classroom. But teachers suffer too. In a forthcoming article, my colleague Sara Ray Stoelinga of the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute illustrates how teacher tenure creates perverse practices in schools across Chicago. In interviews with 40 principals, 37 admitted to using some type of harassing supervision—cajoling, pressuring or threatening—to get teachers to leave in order to circumvent the byzantine removal process mandated by the union contract. One principal plotted to remove a teacher who had trouble climbing stairs by assigning her to a fourth-floor classroom. Another reassigned a teacher who had been teaching eighth-graders for 14 years to a first-grade classroom.

This pathological status quo feeds upon itself: The more difficult it is for principals to address underperformance, the more likely they are to use informal methods to do so. This fuels labor's argument that management is capricious, strengthening their case for increased employment protection.

This cycle leads to what educators call "the dance of the lemons"—the practice of shuffling underperforming teachers from school to school. It's easier to push a teacher to a school down the street than it is to push them out of the profession.

The effect that bad teachers have on relationships among teachers and principals might be the most corrosive aspect of tenure laws. In the book "Organizing Schools for Improvement," University of Chicago researchers showed that the quality of adult relationships in a school profoundly affects student achievement. Analyzing more than a decade's worth of data from Chicago Public Schools, they found that schools where adults demonstrate a shared sense of responsibility for student learning are four times more likely to make substantial gains in reading than schools without strong professional ties. Schools where principals set high standards and involve teachers in decision making are seven times more likely to make substantial improvements in math than schools weak on such measures. But cooperative relationships are difficult to maintain when principals must use underhanded methods to remove ineffective teachers, and when bad teachers undermine staff morale.

The good news is that the majority of teachers are not interested in protecting colleagues who don't belong in the classroom. Last summer the American Federation of Teachers surveyed its members, asking: "Which of these should be the higher priority: working for professional teaching standards and good teaching, or defending the job rights of teachers who face disciplinary action?" According to Randi Weingarten, the union's president, "by a ratio of 4 to 1 (69% to 16%), AFT members chose working for professional standards and good teaching as the higher priority." She elaborated: "Teachers have zero tolerance for people who . . . demonstrate they are unfit for our profession."

The time has come to eliminate tenure. We are facing monumental challenges in our quest to provide all students with an education that will prepare them to compete in a globalized economy. By removing one of the main sources of friction between labor and management, we can focus on the substantive issues: training, evaluating and rewarding teachers to make teaching a true profession.

Mr. Knowles is the director of the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute.

Press Briefing

Jan 18, 2010

New START and implications for National Security Programs. By Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State. Opening Statement Before the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on the New START. Washington, DC
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/06/143261.htm

U.S. Assistance in Response to the Current Humanitarian Crisis in the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan. US State Dept
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/143229.htm

The Trouble With Teacher Tenure - We can't make progress if bad teachers have jobs for life
http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2010/06/trouble-with-teacher-tenure-we-cant.html

Good Jobs and a Level Playing Field in the Next Recovery
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/17/good-jobs-and-a-level-playing-field-next-recovery

The Gulf Spill Record - Here's the rest of the story on USA Today's "Oil spills escalated in this decade."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704575304575296584097417918.html

The White House Blog: A New Process and a New Escrow Account for Gulf Oil Spill Claims from BP
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/17/a-new-process-and-a-new-escrow-account-gulf-oil-spill-claims-bp

BP at first sounded arrogant and now is so obsequious it won't even stand up for its legal rights
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704289504575312833964048458.html

New York and the New England Journal of Medicine. By Peter R. Orszag, Director, OMB
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/blog/10/06/17/New-York-and-the-New-England-Journal-of-Medicine/

Reforming Main Street - A trial-lawyer bonanza gets air-dropped into the financial bill
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704009804575308970937631194.html

Greenspan: U.S. Debt and the Greece Analogy - Don't be fooled by today's low interest rates. The government could very quickly discover the limits of its borrowing capacity.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575310962247772540.html

New York and the New England Journal of Medicine. By Peter R. Orszag, Director, OMB
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/blog/10/06/17/New-York-and-the-New-England-Journal-of-Medicine/

In Medical Malpractice Reform, States Should Shirk the Washington Way
http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/in-the-news/in-medical-malpractice-reform-states-should-shirk-the-washington-way

U.S. Treasury Department Targets Iran's Nuclear and Missile Programs. Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
http://www.state.gov/t/isn/143265.htm

Cisneros Rewriting HUD History
http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2010/06/cisneros-rewriting-hud-history.html

Missile Defense: We've committed to developing proven technologies, and the new START Treaty won't stand in our way. By M Flournoy, Under Sec of Defense for Policy & A Carter, Under Sec of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics
http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2010/06/missile-defense-weve-committed-to.html

Rahming Through a Lame Duck Climate Bill?
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11904

Expert: Obama speech too 'professorial' for his target audience
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/16/obama.speech.analysis/index.html

An Offer BP Couldn’t Refuse
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/17/morning-bell-an-offer-bp-couldnt-refuse

The Water Cost of Carbon Capture
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/the-water-cost-of-carbon-capture

Cisneros Rewriting HUD History

Posted by Tad DeHaven, Cato, June 17, 2010 @ 1:50 pm

In a recent speech to real estate interests, former Clinton HUD secretary Henry Cisneros preposterously claimed that the recent housing meltdown “occurred not out of a governmental push, but out of a hijacking of the homeownership process by some unscrupulous interests.”
The only criticisms Cisneros could muster for the government’s housing policies over the past 20 years were that regulations weren’t tough enough and it should have focused more on rental subsidies.

The reality is that Cisneros-era HUD regulations and policies directly contributed to the housing bubble and subsequent burst as a Cato essay on HUD scandals illustrates:

• Cisneros’s HUD pursued legal action against mortgage lenders who supposedly declined higher percentages of loans for minorities than whites. As a result of such political pressure, lenders begin lowering their lending standards.

• On Cisneros’s watch, the Community Reinvestment Act was used to pressure lenders into making more loans to moderate-income borrowers by allowing regulators to deny merger approvals for banks with low CRA ratings. The result was that banks began issuing more loans to otherwise uncreditworthy borrowers, while purchasing more CRA mortgage-backed securities. More importantly, these lax standards quickly spread to prime and subprime mortgage markets.

• The Clinton administration’s National Homeownership Strategy, prepared under Cisneros’s direction, advocated “financing strategies, fueled by creativity and resources of the public and private sectors, to help homebuyers that lack cash to buy a home or income to make the payments.” In other words, his policies encouraged the behavior that he now calls “unscrupulous.”

• Cisneros’s HUD also put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under constant pressure to facilitate more lending to “underserved” markets. It was under Cisneros’s direction that HUD agreed to allow Fannie and Freddie credit toward its “affordable housing” targets by buying subprime mortgages. Fannie and Freddie are now under government conservatorship and will cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

Cisneros now serves as the executive chairman of an institutional investment company focused on urban real estate. Might that explain why Cisneros is now a fan of subsidizing rental housing?
“Unscrupulous” would be a good word to describe the millions of dollars Cisneros has made in the real estate industry following his exit from government.
From the Cato essay:

In 2001, Cisneros joined the board of Fannie Mae’s biggest client: the now notorious Countrywide Financial, the company that was center stage in the subprime lending scandals of recent years. When the housing bubble was inflating, Countrywide and KB took full advantage of the liberalized lending standards fueled by Cisneros’s HUD. In addition to the money he received as a KB director, Cisneros’s company, in which he held a 65 percent stake, received $1.24 million in consulting fees from KB in 2002.
When Cisneros stepped down from Countrywide’s board in 2007, he called it a “well-managed company” and said that he had “enormous confidence” in its leadership. Clearly, those statements were baloney—Cisneros was trying to escape before the crash. Just days before his resignation, Countrywide announced a $1.2 billion loss, and reported that a third of its borrowers were late on mortgage payments. According to SEC records, Cisneros’s position at Countrywide had earned him a $360,000 salary in 2006 and $5 million in stock sales since 2001.

Missile Defense: We've committed to developing proven technologies, and the new START Treaty won't stand in our way

The Way Forward on Missile Defense. By M Flournoy, Under Sec of Defense for Policy & A Carter, Under Sec of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics
We've committed to developing proven technologies, and the new START Treaty won't stand in our way.
WSJ, Jun 17, 2010

Ballistic missile defenses have matured from a Cold War idea to a real-world necessity. Threats today from ballistic missiles are real, present and growing. Iran and North Korea have extensive inventories of these weapons that threaten their neighbors. Both are working on longer-range missiles capable of posing a direct danger to the United States in the coming years. Iran's continued pursuit of an illicit nuclear program and North Korea's rash intimidation after sinking a South Korean navy ship are but the most recent reminders of the real need for effective U.S. missile defenses.

To counter Iran's ballistic missile program, President Obama announced a phased adaptive approach for European missile defense last September—a move unanimously welcomed by our NATO allies. The first phase begins next year with the deployment of radars and ship-based systems in southern Europe. Romania and Poland have agreed to host land-based defenses for the second and third phases.

A similar phased adaptive approach is being applied to missile defenses in the Middle East and East Asia. While the details of the deployments and host-country arrangements will differ by region, the common thread is significant improvement in ballistic missile defense capabilities, meant to protect our deployed forces overseas and our allies and partners.

In a departure from past approaches, we are no longer building systems anchored in one place and wedded to current threat assessments. We know that the capabilities of potential adversaries do not always progress according to intelligence assessments. Our program must adapt accordingly in the face of evolving and unpredictable threats.

We are also making continued progress in improving our ability to defend the U.S. homeland from ballistic missile attack. By the fall, the U.S. will have 30 deployed ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, with eight more missile defense silos near completion.

The U.S. is committed to a "fly before you buy" approach supported by a rigorous and independently-monitored testing program. An essential element of that program, and a key capability for the phased adaptive approach, is the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) interceptor. The SM-3 version deployed on Navy ships today has hit—within inches—its exact target in nine out of 10 tests. The accuracy of these tests has been confirmed in a variety of ways: by fiber-optic grids that can precisely indicate the point of impact on the target; by images taken from the interceptor in the very last moment before impact (images not available to the public for security reasons); by data from highly accurate radars and airborne sensors; and by extensive rocket sled tests and computer simulations on the ground. All these verification sources confirm that when a missile warhead was hit, it was destroyed. These results have been validated by an independent panel of experts with access to all of the classified and unclassified test data.

Missile defenses have become a topic of some discussion in the context of the Senate's consideration of the New START Treaty with Russia. The fact is that the treaty does not constrain the U.S. from testing, developing and deploying missile defenses. Nor does it prevent us from improving or expanding them. Nor does it raise the costs of doing so. We have made clear to our Russian counterparts that missile defense cooperation between us is in our mutual interest, and is not inconsistent with the need to deploy and improve our missile defense capabilities as threats arise.

U.S. ballistic missile defenses are effective, affordable and increasingly adaptable. These capabilities are critical to protecting U.S. citizens, our forces abroad, and our allies from real and growing threats.

Press Briefing

Jan 17, 2010

The White House Blog: More Support for Curbing Special Interest Influence in Our Elections
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/16/more-support-curbing-special-interest-influence-our-elections

Conservative: The Bad News About ObamaCare Keeps Piling Up - It's now obvious that many millions will lose the coverage they have.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575310773636609374.html

At Last, Financial Reform - Barney Frank helps prevent another crisis in the credit markets
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575310851924122716.html

A Stealth Attack on Capital Gains - Congress has proposed a discriminatory 'enterprise value tax' on hedge funds and other partnerships. It is a threat to any business or industry that politicians decide is no longer popular
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704009804575308981778779248.html

The President's Meeting with BP Executives: "An Important Step Towards Making the People of the Gulf Coast Whole Again"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/16/important-step-towards-making-people-gulf-coast-whole-again

Pakistan-U.S. Strategic Dialogue Energy Working Group Meets in Islamabad
http://blogs.state.gov/ap/index.php/site/entry/pakistan_us_strategic_dialogue_energy

The President's Animosities - Since when was the American idea us versus them?
http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2010/06/way-mr-obama-sees-life-in-xxi-century.html

Remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, USAID Administrator Raj Shah, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
2010 World Food Prize Laureate Announcement Ceremony, Ben Franklin Room, Washington, D.C.
http://www.usaid.gov/press/speeches/2010/sp100616.html

Crude Politics - The drilling experts speak out on the Obama deepwater moratorium
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575311033371466938.html

United States identifies science and innovation as critical drivers to end global hunger
http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2010/pr100616.html

Conservatives on the oil spill and federal president: A Crisis of Competence
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/16/morning-bell-a-crisis-of-competence

U.S. Engagement With The International Criminal Court and The Outcome Of The Recently Concluded Review Conference. By Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Advisor, & Stephen J. Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, State Dept
Washington, DC, June 15, 2010
http://www.state.gov/s/wci/us_releases/remarks/143178.htm

Libertarian: Obama's Vision Deficit on Display
http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-oval-office-address-obamas-vision-deficit-on-display/19518002