Social Justice Magazine
President Obama spelled it out for us last Saturday. During his weekly radio address, he said the country needs “a balanced strategy” with shared sacrifice, and for “everyone to be willing to make decisions that are not popular.”The President’s remarks underscored the contention of some observers, including leading economists, that the White House has bought into the Republican … [Read more...]
There was a lot of sharp media response to White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer’s contention that “The average American” does not view the economy through “the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers” and that next year, “People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do … [Read more...]
Some Stronger Words from the White House? Hold the Euphoria Her sister-in-law called her the other day, she said. “Did you hear Obama yesterday?” was the first thing out of her mouth, she said. We were at the end of the table at a senior activist luncheon last week. BC Question: What will it take to bring Obama home?“Yeah, he sounded like he should have been sounding all along,” she said … [Read more...]
When General George Joulwan appeared on BBC America the other day, he danced around the question of the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But the former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe did have a couple of interesting things to say about the war in Libya.It is true, Joulwan said, that the allied forces fighting there to overthrow the regime of Col. Muammar Gaddafi are … [Read more...]
We're beginning to get a look at what happens when the subject of unemployment comes up at the White House. It ain't reassuring. Jared Bernstein, formerly chief economic adviser to Vice President Biden, who left the Administration last month, says he "frequently" argued for forceful action to combat joblessness within the corridors of power. However, "There will be no WPA-type programs in our near … [Read more...]
Maybe it depends on where home is. It’s not where I am. I’m to the left of Obama. Quite a bit. When Obama refers to “my friends on the left” he’s telling us two things: he has some and that’s not where he’s at. I knew it all along and that still didn’t stop me from welling up when he made that first speech to his party’s convention. I was reminded of the source of that emotion … [Read more...]
Unemployment is up. Joblessness has increased for African Americans. Black women are being hit especially hard. The question now is whether the people running the country really care? And if they do, why are they avoiding the subject?According to the figures released last week by the Department of Labor, the economy added 244,000 jobs in March. Analysts used terms like “surprisingly … [Read more...]
On April 17, conservative columnist Ross Douthat wrote on the opinion page of the August New York Times: Historically, the most successful welfare states (think Scandinavia) have depended on ethnic solidarity to sustain their tax-and-transfer programs. But the working-age … [Read more...]
John Authers, the financial markets columnist for the Financial Times got it right: “The politics of the shutdown have been melodramatic and its possible effects overstated.” The paper’s editors called the episode “banana republic machinations.” Well, it’s over now; the troops will get paid on time and the national parks remain open. If the whole, hardly-nail-biting business … [Read more...]
Thomas Friedman was on a roll last week, putting forward one sweeping declaration after another – as he is wont to do. Some of it was kind of interesting, made you stop and think. Like the idea that we find ourselves at the mercy these days of the “two most merciless forces on earth: the market and Mother Nature.” The latter, which caused the Japanese nuclear energy crisis, we can’t do … [Read more...]
On Sunday, the British Observer newspaper remarked editorially, “Without calls to action by the Arab League, it is doubtful President Obama would have shifted his initial stance of wary caution. But that consensus might not hold in the event of prolonged confrontation.” Prolonged? Hey, it didn’t last three days.By midday, while U.S. Tomahawk missiles were raining down around Tripoli, the … [Read more...]
David Brooks wants to rewrite the nation’s social contract. Not only that, the New York Times columnist and PBS personality wants the idea enshrined in a new “unwritten austerity constitution” that aims to get “state and federal budgets under control” a process that “will take decades” to complete and the foundation of which “has to be this principle: make everybody … [Read more...]
In a good novel, writes blogger Randy Mayeux, “we can find quotes that speak to the issues of the age.” He’s referring to the much acclaimed “The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo” and its relevance to the state of financial journalism in real life today. “Read it, and think about the financial reporting (and, really, most ‘journalism’) in this country over the last two-three years,” … [Read more...]
Protests in Sudan “Davos delegates do not seem to know how to react to events in Egypt,” Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times’ chief foreign affairs columnist, wrote last week. “The young people demonstrating on the streets of Cairo do not speak with the kind of voices that are represented at the forum.” You can say that again.The contrast between these two events on the world … [Read more...]
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