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Chrysler Bankruptcy: Obama's Big Government Is Big Business, Which Is Bad News
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (8)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Bloomberg is reporting that Thursday morning Barack Obama will announce that Chrysler LLC is being placed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that will—eventually, once all the details are worked out—lead to an alliance with Fiat SpA, the Italian automaker, among other details.
I have to confess that has me a little confused.
Obama is the president of the United States, not the chief executive office of Chrysler LLC or any other automobile company. Maybe I missed something but it seems to me it's not the job of the president to announce that a company is going into Chapter 11 or, for that matter, coming out of it. Well, it might be the job of a company president, but it's not the job of the U.S. president.
On the other hand I am quite willing to concede that this may be what Obama means when he talks about the ways he has begun "the work of remaking America," as he did Wednesday in St. Louis at an event marking the end of his first 100 days in office.
Since entering the White House he has increasingly blurred the line separating the public sector from the private one.
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Obama Myths: Church Ban, Forced Labor, and Illegal Immigrants Social Security
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (5)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Some of the craziness that gets shots around the Internet (usually by chain-E-mail) can be either amusing or horrifying, depending on how seriously you take its spread.
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Obama at 100 Days Is Average in Polls, Better Than Bush, Worse Than Reagan, JFK
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (4)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Have you heard the one about how Barack Obama is one of the least popular modern presidents—less popular even than the villainous George W. Bush? There are a couple of big problems with the assertion: First, it's nonsense, second it's meaningless.
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Got Swine Flu? Don't Blame Vegetarians, or the Pigs
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (42)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
While the world is agog over international transmission of the swine flu, let me take this teachable moment to remind people, animals bite back. Factory farming of pigs led to this latest swine flu epidemic, which is threatening to turn into a pandemic. No, people don't get swine flu from eating pork. But the disease is transmitted to humans, usually, via humans (pig farmers) who work with the animals:
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Specter Party Switch Is Self-Preservation, But Republicans Must Change Too
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (4)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
Among the more humorous responses to Arlen Specter's defection from the GOP to the Democrats came from GOP party chief Michael Steele. Steele said, in part:
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Michelle Obama Owes Debt to First Lady Laura Bush, Who Was Her Own Woman
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (11)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Let's hear it for a great first lady—Laura Bush.
That's right. As we spend the day praising Michelle Obama, who has performed more than capably for 100 days (witness her deft touch at yesterday's dedication of a statue of Sojourner Truth), let's pay a little attention to the gal who did the grueling job of first lady so well before her—for eight years.
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In First 100 Days, Obama Moves Too Fast, Spends Too Much
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (5)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Too much, too fast. That's my take on President Obama's first hundred days in office, and it's pretty much the opinion of everyone I've talked to lately. People agree and disagree with the merits of his proposals, and that's fine. But almost to a person, I'm hearing that the speed at which Obama is moving—and spending trillions—is concerning to people.
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At 100 Days, It's Clear Obama Is Not Bush--That Doesn't Make Him a Good President Yet
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (12)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
Need I tell you how Mr. Obama is disliked by the Right? Let us count the ways. He talks to our enemies--Chavez, Castro, et al. How sacrilegious! Then there's Mr. Obama's position on everything from taxes, to overspending, to abortion, to religion in the public square, and so on.
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Arlen Specter Party Switch Becomes Money-Maker for Republicans
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (6)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Arlen Specter may be gone from the GOP, but he is definitely not forgotten. In fact, he's quickly developed a new role in the party: fundraiser.
That's fundraiser in the same way that Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton have been longtime GOP rain-makers and Sarah Palin has been for the Democrats.
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Specter Party Switch Could Prove Problematic for Democrats
Tweet Share on Facebook April 28, 2009 Comment (11)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid used to get laughs at fundraisers, I'm told, by saying of erstwhile Republican Sen. Arlen Specter: He's always there when we don't need him (or words to that effect). Now Democrats have him regardless of whether they want him, but the question remains: Will he be there when they need him?
Beware what you wish for, my Democratic friends, the magical 60 figure may have more shine than heft.
