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To Fix the National Debt, 'Everything Is On the Table'
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2010 Comment (22)By Linda Killian, the Thomas Jefferson Street blog
A dizzying array of political and financial luminaries of both parties appeared in Washington Wednesday to discuss the U.S. government’s dismal fiscal situation. There was unanimous agreement that if something isn’t done soon this country faces a serious debt crisis.
The Fiscal Summit, sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, brought together former President Bill Clinton, OMB Director Peter Orszag, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Co-Chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson of President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, along with commission members Alice Rivlin, the former CBO and OMB director, and GOP Sen. Judd Gregg and Rep. Paul Ryan, as well as many others.
The focus of the summit and of the commission is to take a look at the ever increasing U.S. deficit and debt, and the impact they will have on the nation’s security, competitiveness, and standard of living and to make recommendations for how to fix what is quickly becoming a crisis of major proportion.
“We have to solve these big problems, and we have to solve them now,” said Bowles. “Otherwise we are going to be facing that big word: Bankruptcy.”
One bit of news that came out of the day was the declaration by Simpson that when it comes to recommendations for cuts or action by Congress, “Everything is on the table.” Simpson was including the recently passed Democratic health care reform plan, which came up frequently at the meeting and drew harsh criticism from the Republicans in attendance.
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General David Petraeus for President?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 14, 2010 Comment (8)By Linda Killian, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Just hours after returning to the United States on an overnight flight from Afghanistan Tuesday, General David Petraeus appeared at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to talk about the U.S. Central Command he heads and U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, looking not the least bit jet lagged.
Petraeus is intelligent, well spoken and polished, and his comments about the challenges facing the United States sounded more like those of a politician or diplomat than a general. He often speaks about his job in political terms and is keenly aware of the local political pressures, which have a huge impact on successful military outcomes.
He talks about having “a constituency” in Iraq and Afghanistan of local residents who will “tolerate” the U.S. presence as long as they believe their future and those of their families will be improved by it. He also has a keen instinct and appreciation for the essential public relations aspects of his job and says the U.S. military should always “be first with the truth” when it comes to their actions abroad.
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General David Petraeus Says It's Iran That Keeps Him Up at Night
Tweet Share on Facebook April 14, 2010 Comment (9)By Linda Killian, the Thomas Jefferson Street blog
President Barack Obama’s Tuesday announcement that the world leaders participating in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington have agreed to destroy or secure all nuclear materials over the next four years is welcome news but not totally reassuring, There are still plenty of threats to U.S. and world national security and this non-binding agreement doesn’t address them.
However, the summit of 47 nations, the first ever large meeting of world leaders focused on how to keep nuclear materials away from terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, was a good first step. According to the State Department, it was the largest gathering of government leaders called by a U.S. president since the United Nations was founded in 1945. Experts say there is enough nuclear material in the world--2,000 tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium--to make more than 120,000 nuclear weapons.
“It is increasingly clear,” Obama declared, “that the danger of nuclear terrorism is one of the greatest threats to global security.”
"Nuclear materials that could be sold or stolen and fashioned into a nuclear weapon exist in dozens of nations," Obama said. "Just the smallest amount of plutonium--about the size of an apple--could kill and injure hundreds of thousands of innocent people."
It’s a real and frightening possibility and the sobering truth is that whatever the countries attending the summit try to do to secure their nuclear materials, two of the world’s most dangerous rogue states--Iran and North Korea--weren’t in attendance and probably aren’t very interested in limiting the spread of nuclear materials. In fact, they are working as fast as they can to develop them and are the most likely suspects to deliver nuclear materials into the hands of al-Qaeda or other terrorists.
The same day that Obama was meeting with the world leaders, General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, was across town at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars discussing other security threats facing the United States.
