It seemed like a good idea at the time. Last October, the Bush administration unveiled a plan aimed at helping homeowners facing foreclosure called Hope For Homeowners. Earlier this month, there was consternation and disbelief across the political and economic spectrum when it was revealed that the program More…
As the Senate Intelligence Committee grills prospective CIA director Leon Panetta, President Obama’s commitment to open government finds itself facing a culture of secrecy that has grown broader and deeper since September 11.
Obama’s executive order strengthening the Freedom of Information Act, issued on his second day in office, signaled More…
It’s been a rough month for Leon Panetta. First, in early January, President Obama’s choice to become the next director of the CIA met swift opposition from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, owing to Panetta’s lack of experience with the intelligence community. More…
President Obama’s twelve nominations to the Justice Department have plenty in common. Almost all of the appointees are alums of either President Clinton’s Justice Department, Harvard Law School or both. Among them, three share a particularly interesting hobby that could signal a change in the agency — they blog. More…
It’s almost impossible to turn on the news or open a paper and not hear the term “stimulus.” That one word is quite the multitasker; it can mean anything from tax rebates to public works programs to interest rate cuts, and sometimes refers to a combination of these and other More…
As Congress debates a roughly $825 billion economic stimulus package, many interest groups want to make sure their pet programs get a piece of the action. The education community is no exception.
Various advocates are urging Congress to use the stimulus to fund universal pre-k, expanded after-school programs, education technology, More…
Even as the subprime mortgage fallout continues its ripple effect across the economy, fiscal storm-watchers have an eye on the next gathering cloud: nearly $1 trillion of consumer credit card debt. Defaults are up; in November, the percentage of charge-offs — money card issuers give up on ever collecting — More…
When Barack Obama took the stage at the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, he signaled not only the arrival of a new administration to Washington but the arrival of a patriotism that looks new but isn’t. This patriotism’s founding document is the Declaration of Independence. More…
RELATED: Bush’s Leadership Casualties, U.S. Edition
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that the final two months of the Bush administration featured spirited defenses of its record in foreign affairs. When he gave his farewell address on Thursday evening, George W. Bush framed his administration’s record as a More…
RELATED: Bush’s leadership failures, foreign edition.
Two weeks ago, Florida’s former Gov. Jeb Bush announced that he wouldn’t run for Senate in 2010. A sense of sad Republican resignation swirled through the conservative movement. It was a shame, many thought, that the fumbling More…
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