Gallup: Obama’s approval at new low because of 12% Republican approval

Gallup shows President Obama’s approval rating tied for a low of 48% in the most recent polling. But if you look at the data split by party, it’s like we’re living in three separate worlds. Obama’s personal numbers have fallen mostly amongst Republicans – directly contradicting some of the recent evidence we saw last week

Anatomy of the White House’s Big Pharma Healthcare Deal

Last summer, I heard from a source close to the Obama Administration that the public option was mostly a bargaining tool and that the Obama Administration would only use it in order to pass healthcare reform. Translation: the Obama Administration never supported a public option. While the Obama Administration has never admitted as much, many

Greece: Statement by the Heads of State or Government of the European Union

Below is the text of the brief EU statement on Greece debt crisis. All euro area members must conduct sound national policies in line with the agreed rules. They have a shared responsibility for the economic and financial stability in the area. In this context, we fully support the efforts of the Greek government and

Colbert makes comedy of Sarah Palin at the Tea Party convention

The money line comes right at the end

Murray Hill Incorporated is running for Congress

See also Supreme Court Ruling Spurs Corporation Run for Congress First Test of “Corporate Personhood” In Politics.  Watch out Chris Van Hollen. We’ve got a new ‘person’ in the hunt for Maryland’s 8th district. That’s my Congressional District

Remarks by President Obama to the Republican Caucus

If you are interested in politics, then this is a definite must see theater. It will give you a much greater appreciation of the personalities and positions. Better audio kicks in after a minute or so. The whole thing runs 66 minutes. Location: Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland

Fighting against your shadow

Chris Matthews on Obama’s SOTU : “I forgot he was black”

Of all the coverage of last night’s State of the Union address, the video below stands out. Now, I’m sure Matthews will have a defence for this piece of analysis i.e. “he was so good that all the talk about Obama and race slipped my mind for that brief moment while he spoke.”  But, of

Triangulating on deficit reduction, 2010 version

As I indicated in my post Grading Obama’s economic policy after one year, I see the President as a triangulating center-left politician of the Bill Clinton variety. The reason we have seen public policy which has been favorable to big business and reactive to events on the ground during this economic downturn owes much to

Rationalizing cover-ups and AIG bailouts at the Fed

This comes from Ryan Chittum of the Columbia Journalism Review: Whatever Tim Geithner’s New York Fed was trying to hide in the AIG backdoor bailout was so volatile it was deemed worthy of national-security-like classification, and the Fed reacted to media FOIA requests for information by withholding more information. Reuters, gets the scoop on emails

The political central bank

I wrote this in April 2009 about the Federal Reserve’s machinations: You should note that only the fiscal stimulus required legislative approval. All of the other ’stimulus’ has been done without Congressional approval and largely without Congressional oversight. These activities have been specifically designed to be opaque. The government’s claims of wanting to increase transparency

Robert Reich gets it

I picked up this Robert Reich quote from Politico’s Open Mic section, which echoes the sentiments expressed by a Massachusetts voter in my recent post “President Obama, are you listening?”: A third political party is emerging in America. Call it the I’m-Mad-As-Hell party. It’s a mistake to see the Mad-As-Hell party as just a right-wing