Dec 28th, 2009
by James Kane.
With some form of health care reform poised to be enacted following the passage of a trillion-dollar, pork-filled boondoggle in the U.S. Senate on Christmas Eve, reflection on the course of this policy debate and its broader implication for the trajectory of the Obama administration seem warranted. Whatever results in the coming months on the issue of [...]
Dec 15th, 2009
by James Kane.
With much disappointment today, I read the list of those considered likely to be named Person of the Year by TIME magazine for 2009. Though not a political story per se, the bulk of the figures named hold public office, or are otherwise in the employ of the United States government. Those considered to be [...]
Dec 9th, 2009
by James Kane.
As world leaders start to assemble this week in the capital city of Denmark, discourse on the topic of climate change and the public policy implications thereof have increased. Complicating matters, however, was the revelation in recent weeks that one organization researching anthropogenic global warming was suppressing research running contrary to their claims. Good science [...]
Dec 2nd, 2009
by James Kane.
Recent polling has found that a majority of Americans feel that the country is too politically divided. No, this does not mean that the American people feel that fifty states are too many, or that counties, cities, parishes, and boroughs should be dissolved across the board. Rather, the concern is that there is too much [...]
Nov 16th, 2009
by James Kane.
It has now been more than a week since the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping health care reform legislation. Yet, with what has been written about the bill since that time, one might think it was still being debated. Though there are many faults in the legislation, one issue therein seems to be sustaining [...]
Nov 6th, 2009
by James Kane.
The big news from Tuesday this week came with the announcements of gubernatorial wins for the Republican Party in both Virginia and New Jersey. While both of these states voted for President Obama last year, and are represented by Democratic senators in Washington, the former has traditionally leaned Republican in presidential contests, only going Democratic three [...]
Nov 1st, 2009
by James Kane.
The news of the past week has shown that President Obama does not take well to criticism. If the Fox News flare-up was not enough to suggest this, then certainly the White House’s terse response to criticism from the Associated Press of dubious stimulus-related job claims was. Thus, one is left with reasons to worry about [...]
Oct 23rd, 2009
by James Kane.
The White House this week advised mainstream media outlets against taking the Fox News Channel and its stories seriously. This would, of course, include stories like the ACORN scandal and the opinions of former Obama “Green Jobs” czar Van Jones who resigned amidst relevations relating to his signature on a petition endorsing a 9/11 conspiracy theory. Senator [...]
Oct 12th, 2009
by James Kane.
President Obama was as surprised as the rest of the world when he learned of the news Friday morning that he had received the 2009 Nobel Prize for Peace. It is true that the Obama administration has been undertaking recent efforts towards the promotion of peace. Secretary of State Clinton just recently represented the U.S. administration in [...]
Oct 1st, 2009
by James Kane.
With negotiations underway today between representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and six powers in Geneva, a review of the Obama foreign policy thus far is in order. Though in many respects the foreign policy of this administration has been a disaster of his own making, President Obama deserves credit for tackling enduring foreign policy issues early in his presidency. That [...]
