La exploración petrolera cubana: ¿menos segura por cuenta del embargo?
La perspectiva de tener una
plataforma petrolera en las costas cubanas tiene nerviosos a
ambientalistas estadounidenses, preocupados de que se repita frente a
las costas de Florida el desastre de un derrame de crudo en el Golfo de
México.
Particularmente porque la coordinación política y
técnica de algunas medidas de mitigación del riesgo ambiental en torno a
la plataforma se han dificultado debido a la disputa política entre
Estados Unidos y Cuba.
Ríos Montt va a juicio por genocidio 30 años después
El general retirado cumplirá arresto domiciliario mientras es procesado.
Este jueves Guatemala vivió la
escena que muchos esperaron por décadas: sentado en el sitio designado a
los presuntos delincuentes, con el rostro serio, el general Efraín Ríos
Montt escuchó a una juez someterlo a juicio por genocidio y otros
delitos de lesa humanidad.
Un proceso que deberá cumplir en arresto
domiciliario y de ser encontrado culpable afrontaría una sentencia de
entre 20 y 30 años de prisión.Opinion: Las tres Cubas – por María Cristina de Paz *
“Es
cierto que los seres humanos a veces luchamos por preservar una
relación, una amistad o un empleo, pero hay algo por lo que realmente
siempre vale la pena luchar: tu libertad”. Ésa fue la reflexión de un
gran amigo cuando le comenté que hacía un par de horas había vuelto de
Cuba.
US: Harry Reid: “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican.” – by John McCormack
While
campaigning in Nevada Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told
an audience of mostly Hispanic voters: “I don’t know how anyone of
Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, okay. Do I need to say more?.”Reid’s racially-charged comments come as the Nevada Democrat is trying to boost Hispanic turnout in his bid for reelection this November. Polls show, however, that Reid’s positions on immigration are very unpopular with Nevada voters in general. Reid supports the Obama administration’s lawsuit against Arizona over its immigration law, but 63 percent of Nevada voters oppose the lawsuit, according to a Rasmussen poll.
Reid voted against a measure to complete a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border in May, but 68 percent of voters nationally support building a border fence, according to Rasmussen.
Venezuela: Chávez appointment – a slap to Colombia? – by Girish Gupta
Colombian
President Juan Manuel Santos has tried to build better relations
with his counterpart in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, who once accused the
Colombian president of trying to have him assassinated.US: Budget Collapse: Too Much Free Money – by Lewis E. Lehrman
It’s past time for Congress to “tear up” the U.S. Treasury’s credit cards.US: Keystone Kops halt US-Canada pipeline, and target another – by Duggan Flanakin & Redmond Weissenberger
White House, environmentalists and U.S foundations seek to block all oil sands development.Oilfield workers in Alberta, refinery workers in Texas and countless factory workers just learned that the White House will not allow construction of an oil pipeline that would bring over half a million barrels of oil a day from Canada’s Alberta Province and North Dakota’s Bakken Field to refineries in Texas and Louisiana. The job-killing decision was a victory for radical environmentalists and well-heeled U.S. foundations that have long battled Canadian oil sands companies and the U.S. oil and gas industry.
US Drops to 10th Place in Economic Freedom – by Erika Johnsen
Ahhh,
economic freedom–drink it in, it always goes down smooth. Well-defined,
well-enforced property rights; a stable rule of law that prevents
corruption and encourages equal justice; free trade; responsible
government spending; ease of doing business; well-reasoned,
certainty-inducing regulation: these are the types of factors that
energize a society toward productivity and prosperity, and have made the
United States the world’s leader in liberty and living standards for
going on two centuries. Unfortunately, the sort of big-government,
top-down-virtue policies that adulterate such righteous merits have been
infiltrating our beautiful country at an exponential rate, and
subsequently, we’ve already lost our foothold among the freest of
nations.Unstoppable Momentum: The Ron Paul Revolution Continues. By RonPaul.com
Ron Paul achieved a huge victory in South Carolina, a state that showed itself increasingly receptive to his message of
- cutting the budget by $1 trillion the first year,
- auditing the Federal Reserve,
- saving the dollar,
- ending the income tax,
- preserving Social Security,
- guaranteeing a strong national defense,
- working towards a sensible, pro-American foreign policy and
- reminding the federal government of its defining purpose: to protect our liberties.
Ron Paul’s Surge: Faster than Ever Before
Thanks to the hard work of his campaign staff, grassroots supporters, donors and SuperPACs, Ron Paul managed to more than triple (+259%) his percentage share of votes cast in South Carolina, from 3.62% in 2008 to 13% in 2012:Audit the Federal Reserve
You are viewing the 2009/2010 version of the Audit the Fed page. Please click here for the 2011 version or read on for the amazing history of Ron Paul’s efforts to bring transparency to the secretive banking cartel.
The Federal Reserve is the chief culprit behind the economic crisis. Its unchecked power to create endless amounts of money out of thin air brought us the boom and bust cycle and causes one financial bubble after another. Since the Fed’s creation in 1913 the dollar has lost more than 96% of its value, and by recklessly inflating the money supply the Fed continues to distort interest rates and intentionally erodes the value of the dollar.
For the past 30 years, Congressman Ron Paul has worked tirelessly to bring much-needed transparency and accountability to the secretive bank. And in 2009 and 2010 his unfaltering dedication showed astonishing results: HR 1207, the bill to audit the Federal Reserve, swept the country and made the central bankers shudder at their desks. The bill passed as an amendment both in the House Financial Services Committee and in the House itself.
The Federal Reserve is the chief culprit behind the economic crisis. Its unchecked power to create endless amounts of money out of thin air brought us the boom and bust cycle and causes one financial bubble after another. Since the Fed’s creation in 1913 the dollar has lost more than 96% of its value, and by recklessly inflating the money supply the Fed continues to distort interest rates and intentionally erodes the value of the dollar.
For the past 30 years, Congressman Ron Paul has worked tirelessly to bring much-needed transparency and accountability to the secretive bank. And in 2009 and 2010 his unfaltering dedication showed astonishing results: HR 1207, the bill to audit the Federal Reserve, swept the country and made the central bankers shudder at their desks. The bill passed as an amendment both in the House Financial Services Committee and in the House itself.
Ron Paul Responds to President Obama’s State of the Union Speech
by Ron Paul
Tonight, President Obama once again showed that he does not represent the fundamental change this country needs. Instead of offering solutions to the problems our country faces, the President was intent on delivering a campaign speech, further dealing in the typical Washington political gamesmanship that has gotten us exactly nowhere close to improving the lives of the American people.
Tonight, President Obama once again showed that he does not represent the fundamental change this country needs. Instead of offering solutions to the problems our country faces, the President was intent on delivering a campaign speech, further dealing in the typical Washington political gamesmanship that has gotten us exactly nowhere close to improving the lives of the American people.
The union’s state is dire
Lexington
Barack Obama’s big speech to Congress was mainly a bit of electioneering
The paradox of prosperity
China
For China’s rise to continue, the country needs to move away from the model that has served it so well
Venezuela: La polémica hija de Hugo Chávez – La Patilla
Rosinés
Chávez, la menor de las descendientes del presidente de Venezuela, se
fotografió con un fajo de billetes estadounidenses y subió la imagen a
Internet. Arreciaron las críticas en un país que padece un férreo
control de cambios, publicó Infobae.Colombia: Uribe a Juan Manuel Santos: “Haga algo por favor” – La Patilla
Esta
es la carta abierta del expresidente de Colombia, Álvaro Uribe al
presidente Juan Manuel Santos en el que denuncia lo que ha llamado
“persecución política” contra el ex alto comisionado para la Paz, Luis
Carlos Restrepo.Argentina: Marcos Aguinis afirma: “Las elecciones no son garantía de democracia” – La Capital
El
escritor Marcos Aguinis está posicionado como una de las plumas
opositoras al gobierno de Cristina Fernández. El ex secretario de
Cultura de Raúl Alfonsín calificó a la gestión nacional de “populista” y
justificó la excelente elección de la presidenta en que “el pueblo ha
sido hipnotizado” con la publicidad oficial.El escritor Marcos Aguinis está posicionado como una de las plumas opositoras al gobierno de Cristina Fernández. El ex secretario de Cultura de Raúl Alfonsín calificó a la gestión nacional de “populista” y justificó la excelente elección de la presidenta en que “el pueblo ha sido hipnotizado” con la publicidad oficial. Incluso llega a hablar de un “resultado diabólico” y consideró que “las elecciones no garantizan la democracia”.
US: Romney critica la falta de firmeza de Obama ante actos “escandalosos y vergonzosos” de Chávez – Noticias24
El
aspirante presidencial republicano Mitt Romney acusó hoy al presidente
de EE UU, Barack Obama, de no responder con decisión ante una serie de
acciones “escandalosas” de su homólogo venezolano, Hugo Chávez, de quien
dijo que está “más allá de la vergüenza”.“Mientras Chávez profundiza sus relaciones con los regímenes más despóticos y peligrosos del mundo, el presidente Obama no responde con firmeza”, criticó Romney, favorito en la contienda por la nominación republicana, en un comunicado de su campaña.
Carlos Fuentes: Ningún candidato se ve capaz...
El célebre escritor mexicano habla sobre la situación del país y nuestra democracia en proceso, sobre la clase política “empequeñecida” y las próximas elecciones
El escritor en su casa de San Jerónimo. Foto: Cortesía Leticia Olvera
El verdadero poder perdido de Elba Esther Gordillo
Día con día
Héctor Aguilar Camín
En una sociedad desorganizada, los grupos organizados tienen
doble poder. Pueden ocupar su territorio y ampliarse al que dejan libre
los demás.
Un sindicato público en México tiene el doble poder de ser un sindicato que compite por las rentas del Estado y un centro de representación política que compite por los espacios de influencia y poder públicos.
El Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, el satanizado SNTE, formación angelical si se le compara con su hermana disidente, la Coordinadora Nacional de lo mismo, la CNTE, se ha extendido sobre los espacios de otros hasta formar, también, un partido político formal, el Partido Nueva Alianza, Panal, que compite por el dinero público destinado a los partidos y por los puestos de elección popular que eligen los votantes.
Un sindicato público en México tiene el doble poder de ser un sindicato que compite por las rentas del Estado y un centro de representación política que compite por los espacios de influencia y poder públicos.
El Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, el satanizado SNTE, formación angelical si se le compara con su hermana disidente, la Coordinadora Nacional de lo mismo, la CNTE, se ha extendido sobre los espacios de otros hasta formar, también, un partido político formal, el Partido Nueva Alianza, Panal, que compite por el dinero público destinado a los partidos y por los puestos de elección popular que eligen los votantes.
Los hijos fuera de matrimonio de Peña Nieto
La historia en breve
Ciro Gómez Leyva
Enrique Peña Nieto aceptó hacer pública su vida privada. Él
entregó la llave. No podrá exigir ahora que la gente no entre. Y creo
que serán millones los interesados en echar al menos una miradita.
El candidato del PRI reveló en una entrevista que tenía dos hijos fuera de matrimonio. Al bordar sobre el tema provocó que Maritza Díaz, madre de uno de ellos, lo encarara en las redes sociales para llamarlo mentiroso y acusarlo virtualmente de abandono.
El candidato del PRI reveló en una entrevista que tenía dos hijos fuera de matrimonio. Al bordar sobre el tema provocó que Maritza Díaz, madre de uno de ellos, lo encarara en las redes sociales para llamarlo mentiroso y acusarlo virtualmente de abandono.
Dilemas morales. Luis González de Alba
En psicología social hay muchas versiones de dilema moral.
Uno de los más socorridos es describir una situación donde para salvar a
cinco personas se deba matar a una. Por ejemplo, un tranvía
descontrolado va directo hacia cinco personas que no pueden evitarlo
(van entre paredes o algo así), pero usted puede mover una palanca que
desvíe el vehículo a un ramal, sólo que, antes de accionarla, alcanza a
ver que hay un trabajador de espaldas y rompiendo el pavimento con un
taladro neumático ruidoso. ¿Lo desvía? Es un muerto en vez de cinco,
pero la responsabilidad es por un acto, no por una omisión. A los cinco
los mata el tranvía desbocado. Al trabajador lo mata quien acciona la
palanca.
“Encontramos que el mandamiento No matarás puede superarse al considerar un bien mayor”, dice Carlos David Navarrete, quien encabeza el equipo. Como psicólogo evolucionista, Navarrete explora panoramas amplios, digamos: ¿por qué la evolución nos implantó juicios morales y cómo se ajusta la conducta a ellos?
¿De izquierda o de derecha? ¿Liberales o conservadores?. Ulises Beltrán
Izquierda-derecha y liberal-conservador son adjetivos
frecuentemente utilizados para definir la posición de partidos,
candidatos, grupos o personas. Se asume que basta con calificar a
alguien como de izquierda para que le atribuyamos posiciones más
favorables a la ampliación de la intervención del Estado en la economía,
soluciones más colectivistas que individualistas, y una mayor
disposición a aumentar el gasto social. Asimismo, basta decir que
alguien es conservador para que asumamos que se opone a la legalización
del aborto y a la formalización de uniones entre personas del mismo
sexo, por ejemplo.
El cuestionario de la encuesta CIDE-CSES 20091 pidió a los
entrevistados ubicarse a sí mismos con respecto a los conceptos
izquierda-derecha y liberal-conservador en una escala que va de 0 a 10.
Las variables se codificaron en tres categorías, izquierda, centro y
derecha, y liberal, centro y conservador.2
En la encuesta se incluyeron también algunas preguntas de la encuesta World Values Survey3 en las que se pide a los entrevistados su opinión sobre qué tanto se justifica la homosexualidad, la prostitución, el aborto, el divorcio y la eutanasia, usando escalas de 0 a 10.4 En otra batería de preguntas se indaga sobre actitudes relacionadas con temas de igualdad, el papel del gobierno y el individualismo. Con base en las respuestas a estas baterías de preguntas se construyeron un índice de actitudes “sociales” y uno de actitudes “económicas”. El valor del índice para cada persona es el promedio de los valores que le dio a cada pregunta. Ambos índices se recodificaron en tres categorías: liberal, neutro y conservador en el índice moral, e izquierda-igualitario, neutro o derecha-meritocrático en el económico. Entre más alto es el valor que la persona le da a cada pregunta (“siempre se justifica” en el índice social), más liberal es el respondente y lo mismo ocurre en el índice económico, donde el valor más bajo es igualitario y el más alto meritocrático.5
En la encuesta se incluyeron también algunas preguntas de la encuesta World Values Survey3 en las que se pide a los entrevistados su opinión sobre qué tanto se justifica la homosexualidad, la prostitución, el aborto, el divorcio y la eutanasia, usando escalas de 0 a 10.4 En otra batería de preguntas se indaga sobre actitudes relacionadas con temas de igualdad, el papel del gobierno y el individualismo. Con base en las respuestas a estas baterías de preguntas se construyeron un índice de actitudes “sociales” y uno de actitudes “económicas”. El valor del índice para cada persona es el promedio de los valores que le dio a cada pregunta. Ambos índices se recodificaron en tres categorías: liberal, neutro y conservador en el índice moral, e izquierda-igualitario, neutro o derecha-meritocrático en el económico. Entre más alto es el valor que la persona le da a cada pregunta (“siempre se justifica” en el índice social), más liberal es el respondente y lo mismo ocurre en el índice económico, donde el valor más bajo es igualitario y el más alto meritocrático.5
¡Viva el comercio sexual voluntario!
¡Viva el comercio sexual voluntario!
por: Guillermo Ramirez
La
llama de la polémica en torno al comercio sexual se vio reavivada en la
Argentina con la decisión de la presidente Cristina Fernández Viuda de
Kirchner de prohibir los anuncios de índole sexual en los periódicos, y amenazando que el ubicuo ojo estatal se posará también sobre la tevé e internet. En
el caso de los anuncios en la prensa escrita – conocidos normalmente
como Rubro 59 por el código otorgado – el motivo de la prohibición según
CFK es desalentar el comercio sexual y la trata de personas: “La oferta sexual del rubro 59 es un delito y una profunda discriminación a la condición de la mujer como tal“. A partir de la promulgación de la ley, todo anuncio sexual queda vetado so pena de multas y prisión.La naturaleza del gobierno
La naturaleza del gobierno
Robert
LeFevre (1911-1986) fue un hombre de negocios, libertario de mercado
estadounidense, personalidad de radio y principal teórico del
autarquismo, una versión pacifista del anarcocapitalismo. [wiki]Esta ilustrativa charla, extraída de los altamente recomendados Robert Lefevre Commentaries, se ocupa de definir al gobierno y los prerrequisitos que se deben observar para decir que existe un gobierno de hecho. Subtitulado en inglés y castellano:
El cuento del esclavo
El cuento del esclavo
Robert Nozick, filósofo libertariano, describió el sistema democrático en su obra Anarquía, Estado y Utopía con un sencillo pero poderoso cuento, el cuento del esclavo.Benegas Lynch comenta sobre el mismo:
Este es el sentido del pensamiento de Cicerón inscripto cincuenta años antes de Cristo en su Tratado de la República que he citado en otras ocasiones y que vale la pena reiterar por su punzante actualidad: “El imperio de la multitud no es menos tiránico que la de un hombre solo, y esa tiranía es tanto más cruel cuanto que no hay monstruo más terrible que esa fiera que toma la forma del pueblo”.
Siria realiza ejercicios militares para probar su capacidad de repeler posibles ataques
¿Quiere el Reino Unido a Siria como la próxima Libia?
¿Quiere cambiar EEUU la ocupacion de Afganistan por una guerra con Pakistan?
Senador de EEUU amenaza con una posible accion militar contra Pakistan
Un senador estadounidense de alto rango ha dicho que Estados Unidos debería considerar una acción militar contra Pakistán si Islamabad continúa patrocinando los ataques de militantes contra las tropas de EEUU en Afganistán.
The Buffett Ruse
Obama's ploy means the highest capital gains tax rate since 1978.
Here we are four years later, and President Obama on Tuesday night linked the term "fair" to U.S. tax and economic policy seven times. The U.S. economy is still hobbling out of recession, real family incomes are falling and 14 million Americans are unemployed, but Mr. Obama declared that his top priority is not to reform the tax code to promote growth and job creation. His overriding goal is redistributing income.
Mr.
Obama endorsed the political ruse he calls the Buffett rule, which
asserts as a matter of moral principle that millionaires should not pay a
lower tax rate than middle-class wage earners. Specifically, Mr. Obama
is proposing that anyone earning more than $1 million pay at least 30%
of that income to Uncle Barack.The GOP Goes MAD
The candidates go thermonuclear, but the party itself may get hit.
For nearly three decades, the American and Soviet nuclear arsenals cohabitated uneasily inside a policy of Mutual Assured Destruction without blowing each other up. MAD was insane, but the players were not. Campaigning politicians operate under no such rational constraint. We are hours away from the second Florida primary debate in which Newt Gingrich will give Mitt Romney a lesson in massive retaliation for the governor's Gatling-gun attack on the speaker last Monday night.
Martin Kozlowski
Traditionalists
will dismiss the idea that the GOP is in the process of blowing itself
up. Campaign politics has always been about the rough and tumble, old
boy. It was ever thus.The State of the Union Is Angry
What Obama and Gingrich have in common.
By JAMES TARANTO
We were tired when we got home last night, too tired to pay much attention to the substance of President Obama's State of the Union Address. But we dutifully sat through all 65 minutes of it, and they made a strong emotional impression: This guy is angry. And it was a vigorous sort of anger, not the thin-skinned petulance to which this president has accustomed us. The tone was not whiny but combative. Obama reminded us of Newt Gingrich.Europe’s Debt Crisis Is Still Likely to End Badly: Simon Johnson
There are two main schools of
thought on what may happen next with Europe’s debt crisis. Some
well-informed people strongly believe that everything will work
out just fine, and without much of an economic slowdown. Other,
equally well-informed people believe just as strongly that the
euro area will break apart in a traumatic manner. When it comes
to predicting Europe’s future, not many people occupy the middle
ground.
Bernanke’s Housing-Market Meddling Tarnishes Trust: Amity Shlaes
In 2009, an economist named Paola Sapienza came up with an image to describe the challenge the
U.S. economy faced after the financial crisis. The economy was
like a board game, Sapienza, a professor at Northwestern
University, told me. Especially like the old favorite
“Monopoly.”
Despite the name, “Monopoly” isn’t really about antitrust. It’s about trust. Trust and commerce, Sapienza said. If people want to buy properties, if renters pay their rents and the bank acts predictably, then the game will move merrily forward, and hotels will replace houses on the board.
But if the bank can’t be trusted -- if it cheats or proves too erratic -- there is a problem. The players walk away from the table.
Despite the name, “Monopoly” isn’t really about antitrust. It’s about trust. Trust and commerce, Sapienza said. If people want to buy properties, if renters pay their rents and the bank acts predictably, then the game will move merrily forward, and hotels will replace houses on the board.
But if the bank can’t be trusted -- if it cheats or proves too erratic -- there is a problem. The players walk away from the table.
Gingrich’s Ideas Collapse Under Weight of Logic: Ramesh Ponnuru
Even Newt Gingrich’s toughest
critics concede that the former speaker of the House, now
enjoying his second comeback in the Republican presidential
race, is a font of ideas.
Republican voters who listen to him hear proposals they have never heard before: bold, exciting proposals, made with complete confidence in their workability. His originality is a big part of his appeal. But even his fans concede that not all of his ideas are good.
Everyone has good and bad ideas, of course. Getting them all tangled up with each other is one of the chief characteristics of Gingrich’s intellectual style.
Republican voters who listen to him hear proposals they have never heard before: bold, exciting proposals, made with complete confidence in their workability. His originality is a big part of his appeal. But even his fans concede that not all of his ideas are good.
Everyone has good and bad ideas, of course. Getting them all tangled up with each other is one of the chief characteristics of Gingrich’s intellectual style.
Harvard MBA Degree Earns Romney ‘C-’ on Tax Plan: Caroline Baum
Conventional wisdom holds that
presidential candidates, once they secure their party’s
nomination, tack to the center for the general election. Having
appeased the more extreme elements that come out to vote in
primary elections, a candidate can drop the pretense of being a
far right- or left-winger and don the mantle of reasonable
centrist in order to garner the ever-growing share of the
independent vote.
Not so for Mitt Romney. With the inevitability of his candidacy increasing with each passing primary, the founder of Bain Capital is going to have to demonstrate his conservative bona fides, especially in the area of tax policy, if he wants to convince the public he represents a clear break with the past. (“Governor of Massachusetts” on the resume just doesn’t cut it.)
Not so for Mitt Romney. With the inevitability of his candidacy increasing with each passing primary, the founder of Bain Capital is going to have to demonstrate his conservative bona fides, especially in the area of tax policy, if he wants to convince the public he represents a clear break with the past. (“Governor of Massachusetts” on the resume just doesn’t cut it.)
Gingrichonomics Equals Nothing but Dysfunction: View
Photograph by Peter Foley/Bloomberg; Illustration by Bloomberg VIew
By
the Ed
Newt Gingrich, unexpectedly, has
become a serious contender for the Republican presidential
nomination. He won the South Carolina primary and is now the
front-runner in some polls nationally. He has been debating
well, shaking off criticism of his personal life and doing his
best to bolster his reputation as an ideas man.
‘Fool in the Shower’ to Give Fed a Good Scalding: Caroline Baum
Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg; Illustration by Ryan Thacker
Long and variable lags. That’s all I
could think of yesterday when I read the Federal Reserve
statement and learned that economic conditions “are likely to
warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at
least through late 2014.”
Corporate Citizens Can Do Well by Doing Good: Richard H. Thaler
Illustration by Kelsey Dake
By
Richard H. Thaler
Although the phrase is now somewhat
out of fashion, the issue of corporate responsibility is at the
heart of many of the debates on economic policies around the
world. Should corporations simply maximize profits and let the
invisible hand do its wonders, or do they have some obligation
to be good corporate citizens as well?
‘Stop-Newt’ Republicans Confront New Base. By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
Two days after Newt Gingrich
defeated Mitt Romney in the South Carolina presidential primary
one of Romney’s big-name backers offered a grim prediction for
his fellow Republicans.
“The possibility of Newt Gingrich being our nominee against Barack Obama I think is essentially handing the election over to Obama,” former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty told reporters on a Jan. 23 conference call. “I think that’s shared by a lot of folks in the Republican Party.”
Pawlenty’s comments echoed those being uttered publicly and behind the scenes by elected Republicans, party activists, fundraisers and pundits, who represent a portion of the party establishment -- a “stop-Newt” caucus -- populated largely by people who have known the former U.S. House speaker for decades.
The question is: Can they?
“The possibility of Newt Gingrich being our nominee against Barack Obama I think is essentially handing the election over to Obama,” former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty told reporters on a Jan. 23 conference call. “I think that’s shared by a lot of folks in the Republican Party.”
Pawlenty’s comments echoed those being uttered publicly and behind the scenes by elected Republicans, party activists, fundraisers and pundits, who represent a portion of the party establishment -- a “stop-Newt” caucus -- populated largely by people who have known the former U.S. House speaker for decades.
The question is: Can they?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Do We Need a Law to Make People Think? Virginia's hypocrisy on gun rights versus abortion rights. A. Barton Hinkle
“I think people should make informed choices, and I think this
bill would accomplish that.” So said Del. Mark Cole the other day
about his bill to force anyone seeking a firearm or concealed-carry
permit in Virginia to look at autopsy pictures of shooting
victims.
Autopsy pictures of gunshot wounds aren’t pretty, especially those of head shots. But maybe looking at a few would make some of the more thoughtless, irresponsible gun buyers think about the potential consequences of their actions.
You disagree? Well, so does Cole, actually. In fact, he has not introduced any such legislation. To the contrary, he has introduced a bill (HB140) that would allow people to carry concealed firearms without a permit. This would clear away “a little bit of bureaucratic red tape,” he says. Cole is a gun-rights kind of guy, and good for him.
Autopsy pictures of gunshot wounds aren’t pretty, especially those of head shots. But maybe looking at a few would make some of the more thoughtless, irresponsible gun buyers think about the potential consequences of their actions.
You disagree? Well, so does Cole, actually. In fact, he has not introduced any such legislation. To the contrary, he has introduced a bill (HB140) that would allow people to carry concealed firearms without a permit. This would clear away “a little bit of bureaucratic red tape,” he says. Cole is a gun-rights kind of guy, and good for him.
The Eternal State of the Union
Why does every SOTU sound eerily familiar? Because presidents have been saying the same things for a half-century.
What will President Barack
Obama's State of the Union Address look like tonight? We can be
pretty sure Obama will talk about improving the economy, creating
jobs for the 21st century, achieving energy independence, improving
our schools, confronting America's enemies, championing the global
cause of freedom, tackling long-term entitlements, and building
bipartisan coalitions to rise above political bickering and do the
people's work, at this hinge point in history.That's because every State of the Union has contained all or most of these nostrums stretching back a half-century. In fact, starting with John F. Kennedy's address to a joint session of Congress in 1961, you could take one sentence from each SOTU since, in chronological order, and cobble together a speech that will likely resemble much of what you'll hear tonight.
So that's precisely what I've done. Without further ado.
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