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Democrat's Emotional Gulf Oil Spill Testimony Can't Help Obama
Tweet Share on Facebook May 28, 2010 Comment (14)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Following up on my oil spill post of earlier this week, things just keep spinning out of control for the Obama administration. The president jaunted down to the Gulf Coast for his second post-Deepwater Horizon spill visit. The Obama White House is watching public support drop as more voters wonder if he is fiddling while the Gulf Coast burns. But Mr. Obama cannot have been helped by a fellow Democrat, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), who broke down in tears while trying to read a statement at a House Energy subcommittee meeting yesterday.
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Gulf Oil Spill is Tarring Obama's Approval Ratings
Tweet Share on Facebook May 26, 2010 Comment (28)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I agree with my esteemed colleague Mary Kate Cary that the Deepwater Horizon spill is becoming President Obama’s version of Hurricane Katrina, which started to turn American public opinion against former President George W. Bush.
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Is the Washington Post's News Sexist?
Tweet Share on Facebook May 24, 2010 Comment (11)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander had an interesting post on sexism at the institution he writes about. He gave several examples of recent pieces of writing in the paper which drew reader criticisms for gender bias. Most recently he cites a review by TV critic Tom Shales, known for his lavish use of language to take down TV programs with which he is not in love, of a news PBS public affairs program. (Full disclosure: I too host a PBS public affairs program) and an interview it aired with former President Bill Clinton.
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Senate Democrats' Financial Reform Bill Keeps Wall Street Happy
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2010 Comment (5)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The Senate financial reform bill is good, but not good enough. It does create several layers of consumer protections. But it does not reinstate the protections of the Glass-Steagall law. That post-Depression law prohibited commercial banks from investing in risky stocks and later derivatives. Not too long in historical terms, after that prohibition was lifted in the 1990s, the Great Depression was replaced by the Great Recession. Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell fought long and hard to reinstate Glass-Steagall but did not succeed, not at least in the version of financial reform approved by the Senate early this morning. [See which industries donated the most to Cantwell.] According to the Financial Times:
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Congress Handling the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis Better than Most Americans
Tweet Share on Facebook May 19, 2010 Comment (8)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
One wag, commenting on the Gulf oil spill, said there's nothing like wave after wave after plume after plume of greasy, smelly slush covering birds, fish and beaches to turn the American public off of off shore oil drilling. And so it is! But remarkably not as much as an environmentalists might hope.
Although the Gulf spill has lowered the percentage of Americans who support offshore oil drilling, a new Pew Forum poll finds a stunning 54 percent still support it. -
Supreme Court Expands Government Powers on Sexual Predators
Tweet Share on Facebook May 18, 2010 Comment (9)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court expanded Congressional powers just a mite, by allowing the federal government to keep sexual predators in prison beyond their terms if they are deemed too dangerous to be released. According to the New York Times:
The law allows the federal government to continue to detain prisoners who had engaged in sexually violent conduct, suffered from mental illness and would have difficulty controlling themselves. If the government is able to prove all of this to a judge by “clear and convincing” evidence—a heightened standard, but short of “beyond a reasonable doubt”—it may hold such prisoners until they are no longer dangerous or until a state government assumes responsibility for them.
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Obama Scores Cheap Political Points in Gulf Oil Spill
Tweet Share on Facebook May 14, 2010 Comment (36)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
It's easy to point fingers and blame the other side. It's much tougher to 'fess up and admit that one is or may be partially responsible for a terrible situation. President Obama took the low road on this front late this week, scoring easy points against oil company executives for the horrendous oil spill still ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico. As the Washington Post reports:
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For Financial Reform, Reinstate Glass-Steagall Act
Tweet Share on Facebook May 12, 2010 Comment (20)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The single most important thing the U.S. Congress could do to return stability to the stock and derivative markets would be to restore the Glass-Steagall Act. I have said that before and I’ll say it again, right here. Glass-Steagall, in simple terms, prevented commercial banks from investing in risky financial paper, such as the stocks, futures and derivatives that got Wall Street into big trouble in September of 2008.
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U.S. Doctors Wrong on Female Genital Mutilation Among Immigrants
Tweet Share on Facebook May 11, 2010 Comment (33)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Believe it or not, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) thinks it's OK for immigrant parents to subject their daughters to a mild form of female genital mutilation (FGM). This is more evidence our nation has gone mad over immigration and is allowing immigrants to commit all manner of crimes that would be illegal if performed by a native-born citizen.
The AAP issued a report saying, in essence, it's better to allow parents who are going to maim their daughters' private parts to inflict a "ritual nick" than to send the girls overseas (back to their home country) for the traditional form of mutilation--a "surgery" performed by midwives and other non-medical personnel which maims girl's private parts for life. According to the anti-mutilation activist group Intact America: -
Greece Financial Crisis Raises Doubts About European Union
Tweet Share on Facebook May 8, 2010 Comment (4)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I must admit I've never believed that a continent could act like a country. So the European Union's woes over Greece's financial crisis strikes me as neither odd nor unexpected. We in the United States can't even agree on various bailouts for parts of the federal government or certain U.S. industries. Can you imagine, for example, if Tennessee were asked to bail out California? The same furor would erupt as has gripped Europe, all of whose countries share a currency but none of whom are willing to accept the burden of making up for another's profligacy.
