100 posts
GOP race wide open again
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Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum won 3 non-binding contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado yesterday putting back in contention after poor results in Florida and Nevada and puts the front runner Mitt Romney under pressure. While all th...
"How (not) to Defend Entrenched Inequality" by John Quiggin
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The endless EU vs US debate rolls on, but now with an odd twist. Although the objective facts about economic inequality, immobility and so on are far worse in the US than the EU, the political...
Sarah Palin is right: Newt Gingrich is getting crucified by Mitt Romney's millions
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Sarah Palin has spoken, and she says that the Republican establishment is “trying to crucify” Newt Gingrich. To a large extent, she is right (although Newt probably supplied his own nails). On Sunday, NBC reported that Romney now leads Gingrich b...
Barack Obama's state of the union address
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video Follow Barack Obama's 2012 state of the union address to Congress, in which he called for a fairer America and challenged Republicans not to obstruct his plans. RE...
A Future of Regulators at Fault?
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The typical case in the U.S. is that the industry being regulated resists being regulated, while the regulators insist on enforcing the regulations. To be sure, particularly strong firms in an industry may propose incremental regulations for strategi...
The way to neuter opposition to intrusive government measures is to present them as being “for the children”
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Imagine a law in America that could set children against their parents, centralize power away from the states toward the federal government, mandate increases in government spending regardless of taxpayer wishes, bypass the House of Representative...
Over five year almost 100,000 troops would be cut. Will security risks follow?
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Do you think the security risks will come with the fact the US will have a smaller force or not, and why? Comments by Richard Stoll, Professor of Political Science, Rice University. The cuts to the US defense budget that Secretary of Defense Panett...
In big Obama speech, a European absence
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The news overnight focused on President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union address. For the Brussels crowd, the most interesting thing in the speech may have been what was not in the speech: Europe. Despite the ongoing eurozone crisis, &helli...
SOTU: Obama does not care for europe
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In the last State of the Union speech of his first term, US president B. Obama talked about economy, social justice and healthcare… But did not mention Europe – not even to mention the crisis we are in at the moment and the risk for the world...
"What Germans Don't Understand About America"
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On Wednesday, January 25 at 7 PM (German time, which means 1:00 PM EST), US Ambassador to Germany Philip D. Murphy will deliver a keynote speech at the American Academy in Berlin entitled "What Germans Don't Understand About America." Cont...
“U.S. Americans”
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The term is as absurd as “États-Unien” (FR: “United-statesian”), and I hear it more and more.My simple retort to the pinheaded who argue to me that they have the right to define the terms by which we Americans describe ourselves is to enligh...
Gingrich scores big win in South Carolina. How bad is it for Romney?
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Experts comment on the results of SC primary election. Eric Ostermeier, Research Associate, Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, University of Minnesota Newt Gingrich’s win in South Carolina on Saturday means an unprecedented three diff...
Gingrich to seek TransAtlantic Adultery Pact.
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Former Speaker and adulterer Newt Gingrich took time off today from lecturing on family values to announce that he would seek to agree an Adultery Exchange Programme with France if he were elected President of the United States. “I’m no...
My Perspective at 50: A Scholarly View on Modern Society from the Cheap Seats
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Exactly half a century after I came into this world during what in the Northern hemisphere is the coldest week of the year, I set out on an open-air jaunt over snow-plowed roads on a bright, bitterly cold morning on a bike that had been “given” (...
The biggest American political story Europeans haven't heard of
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The US presidential primary race has attracted its usual amount of fascination here in Europe, and yesterday’s developments - with the Iowa race being re-called for Santorum and Rick Perry dropping out - were front page material. But behind the spe...
FSN covers a remarkable day in US politics
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On the US campaign trail, Thursday was one of those days you just can't make up. At the very moment Governor Rick Perry was dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination and endorsing Newt Gingrich for the Presidency, ABC News was releasing...
"Europe" is a Dirty Word in the United States
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Mitt Romney's Anti-European rhetoric is stronger than the Anti-American statements by leading German politicians in the last few election campaigns. Romney seems to assume that Republican voters are so stupid, uninformed and Anti-European that he can...
U.S. Military in Europe: On the Tyranny of the Status Quo
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On January 14, 2012, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Pentagon would bring home two brigades from Europe. That would reduce the U.S. Army presence by 10,000 to 30,000. “During the height of the cold war,” according to the Times, “when...
Otherwise They Hate You, America
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The US’ rebalancing of military forces away from Europe and into the Asia-Pacific region is causing consternation in the land of the rich yet needy and helpless. Helsinki lawyer Ralf Grahn summarizes:While both sides want to maintain the NATO alli...
The Ministerial Exception: A Religious Right to Discriminate
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In early 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized, for the first time ever, a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws, saying that churches and other religious groups must be free to choose and dismiss their leaders without gover...
Guantanamo, Hungary and Copenhagen
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In the US, the Republicans’ choice for presidential candidate remains open. Mitt Romney is now looking likely to being Obama’s rival candidate, although it is far from settled. Many of us remember the last presidential campaign and the...
“How much would each slave pick?” US school uses slave-based questions
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Parents in the former slave-owning state of Georgia have attacked school officials after they used a maths worksheet with questions based on forced labour. The response that the principal would work with teachers to produce more appropriate lessons h...
"Mitt Romney and the Bain of Capitalism" by Robert Reich
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It’s one thing to criticize Mitt Romney for being a businessman with the wrong values. It’s quite another to accuse him and his former company, Bain Capital, of doing bad things. If what Bain Capital...
Ron Paul: “Huntsman released racist ad attacking himself”
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Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has enjoyed a respectable leap in the New Hampshire polls this week, but if GOP rival Ron Paul is to be believed, it has been the result of some devious and risky tactics. Over the weekend a racist online attack ad e...
Employment Discrimination at Iowa’s Law School: Beyond the Ideologues
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Teresa Wagner, a pro-life, conservative Republican, applied to teach law at the University of Iowa as was turned down. Jon Carlson, an associate dean at the school, emailed his dean, Carolyn Jones, to admit, “Frankly, one thing that worries me is t...
Republicans Campaign with Anti-European Rhetoric
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"Europe bashing has become an important stump-speech cornerstone for the entire Republican field," writes Spiegel: Europe is socialist, bloated and a threat to the global economy. That appears to be the message from the ongoing presidenti...
Americana roundup: google site for 2012 Presidential Election and more…
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Google Launches New Site With Resources for the 2012 Presidential Election from Mashable! by Sarah Kessler Facebook, NBC Joining Forces to Host Social Presidential Debate by Alex Fitzpatrick Keeping up with the 2012 U.S. election with Google.com/Ele...
Back to Basics in Defense – and Deterrence?
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BRUSSELS—Full details of the Obama administration’s new look in defense spending, force posture, and strategy are not yet out. But enough has been revealed to venture some thoughts on the logic of the new approach and the longer-term implicatio...
Washington’s Asia-Pacific Security Dilemma
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BERLIN — When President Barack Obama unveiled a new national defense strategy last week, which confirmed the United States’ intent to play a sustained role in shaping a rising Asia, he noted that “the tide of war is receding.” This observ...
A Post-American Europe? Not Just Yet
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PARIS—The Obama administration’s new defense strategy should come as no surprise to observers in France and across Europe. The question of rebalancing American military involvement between Europe and the Asia-Pacific has been a recurring theme of...
The New U.S. Defense Strategy: A Wake-Up Call for Europe
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WARSAW—The new strategic defense guidance from the Obama administration aims to refocus the U.S. defense posture on the increasingly competitive security environment emerging in the Pacific. It also (despite the Pentagon’s protestations to the co...
Romney in 2012: Did he learn something from 2008?
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Of course, his money matters a great deal. Questions: 1. What would you say Mitt Romney has learned from the defeat in 2008? 2. If he wins the nomination how much it will be about his money? Answers: John Pitney, Professor of American Politics, Clare...
American (Dems) politicians go to Hollywood
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American presidential campaign: Barack Obama have sent people to Hollywood to set up a number of fundraisers. Questions: 1. Except they can provide money and star power why is it important for Obama to reach out to Hollywood celebrities? 2. It is...
Ron Paul campaign: “Please don’t wave guns around at our event”
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As if a pub crawl in support of a man who wants to allow the legalisation of drugs and hookers didn’t sound like enough fun already, warnings on invitations to a pro-Ron Paul bash have raised eyebrows yet further. The invitations, sent to Paul supp...
Romney “wins” Iowa
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A lot has been posted about Mitt Romney’s win of the Straw Poll at the Iowa Caucus on Tuesday night. While he beat Rick Santorum by 8 votes, how many of his supporters stuck around to be voted as Delegates to the County Caucus, which in turn se...
Military: Yankees go while European leaders sleep
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And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from president Barack Obama that private Ryan and his comrades should redeploy to Asia, where the action is going to be.The strategy document Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Prioritie...
Experts: The US military presence in Europe will get smaller
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President Barack Obama released the Defense Strategic Guidance. Questions: 1. We did not hear anything very specific from President Obama and Def. Sec. Leon Panetta , but what do you think we could expect from it especially it terms of the US militar...
LOLGREECE ENDORSES @REPRONPAUL #GREEKS4RONPAUL
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I have tweeted about this ad nauseam over the last few days but with Iowa about to yield its secrets to the adoring public I'm ready to shut up. Just not before this little official endorsement, which will come as a surprise to precisely none of my r...
My Predictions for 2012
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1. Germany's Federal President will resign after less than two years in office. Christian Wulff will be the second head of state in a row who resigns because he does not like what the press writes about him. Germans will get new president. Again with...
2012, election year – In the US
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Election season is just over the corner in the United States, and it will last all year-long… Along with parliamentary elections, B. Obama’s term is reaching its end and he will obviously try to get a second one. In front of him, the re...
And the winner of the GOP presidential race is… Mitt Romney?
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Probably. We will know more after Iowa and New Hampshire. Questions: 1. Who really need to score well in Iowa and for whom is this contest not so important in your opinion, and why? 2. Is it a surprise that Ron Paul leads in the polls before Iowa cau...
"My Political Prediction for 2012: It’s Obama-Clinton" by Robert Reich
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My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State — a position he’s apparently coveted for...
An Aristocratic People’s House?
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“Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House rose by more than 2 1/2 times, according to the analysis of financial disclosures, from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home equity. Over the...
Christmas Snubbed by “Happy Holidays”
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Even on Christmas day, television networks and local stations in the American States refer only to the holiday indirectly through “Happy Holidays.” It is essentially to ignore Christmas, or to make a statement to that effect. Either way...
We #stopsopa and #boycottgodaddy
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Public Service Announcement: Kosmopolito.org is a political blog which opposes all forms of online censorship. Until today kosmopolito.org’s domain name registrar has been godaddy.com. However, this company seems to be in favour of SOPA (and...
Vertical and Horizontal M&A: A Bias in Antitrust Policy?
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The Obama Justice Department developed a track record in challenging horizontal mergers and acquisitions—those in which a company buys a direct competitor—in industries that are already highly concentrated. In deals that are not between direct ri...
Mitt Romney’s campaign slogan- stolen from the KKK!
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The Republican candidacy race hasn’t exactly shied away from controversy so far, but Mitt Romney has gone to great efforts to nurture an image of quiet sensibility and competence whilst his rivals Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Mic...
"The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency" by Robert Reich
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The President’s speech today in Osawatomie, Kansas — where Teddy Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech in 1910 — is the most important economic speech of his presidency in terms of connecting...
The Democracy Deficit in Nominating Presidential Candidates
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“Newt Gingrich is up, Herman Cain is out, and the attacks are getting sharper as the GOP primary campaign enters the final month.” The final month, that is, before “Iowa launches the contests that will choose the challenger to President Obama.
Now that Donald Trump is moderating a debate, the Republican race has officially become reality TV
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The Republican presidential debates risk becoming a distraction from the Republican presidential primaries. Taking place in a hinterland between melodrama and comedy, they’re now getting in the way of the hunt for a serious candidate. The announcem...
The United States and China: friends under compulsion
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video By Stanislovas Stasiulis The United States and China...
An American President Meets the E.U.: Corrective Exigencies of a Debt Crisis
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Political protocol can take some time to catch up to changed political realities. For over two hundred years, it has been assumed that U.S. presidents have met with their counterparts in E.U. states such as Britain, France, and Germany. During the Eu...
EST announces cooperation with “Atlantic Community”
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EST announces its cooperation with the think tank "Atlantic Community".
U.S. Housing and Labor Pains—Central America and the Caribbean Feeling the Pinch Too
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If housing and labor market woes aren’t bad enough in the United States, they’re hurting Central America and the Caribbean too. It has been five years since the U.S. housing bubble burst and three years since the onset of the global financial...
U.S. wind turbin market set to "fall off a cliff" in 2013
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U.S. wind turbin market is set to "fall off a cliff" in 2013, unless lawmakers decide to extend the present tax credits, according to Ditlev Engel, CEO of the Danish Vestas Wind Systems. U.S. wind turbine sales may dry up in 2013 unless lawmake...
What Part of Europe Are You From?
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Annoy a LiberalWork Hard & Be HappyVeteran's bumper stickersSeen at Bull Run battlefield, Manassas, Virginia...
The U.S. Bomb is Still Ticking
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Lucian-Nicolae Berba The United States today faces more challenges than at the beginning of the financial crisis. What started in late 2007, as sub-prime mortgages turned toxic, had ripples through all mortgage-backed securities before continuing...
Voters in Mississippi reject Irish-style abortion amendment.
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Voters in the conservative southern state of Mississippi have rejected a constitutional amendment to give “personhood” to fertilized eggs by 55%. Check out the story here. ...
Lincoln, U.S. Grant, DSK, and My Mother: Didn't Herman Cain in Fact Behave Like a Gentleman?
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As Abraham Lincoln once said (quoting an old-timer he knew from his Kentucky childhood): It's been my experience that folks who have no vices have generally very few virtues. More famously, when told that his most successful general was a drunkard,...
"Why is the Bankruptcy of the Greek Government different from the Bankruptcy of California?" by Dani Rodrik
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The European Union, and the Eurozone in particular, has impressive institutional achievements to its name. We have a European Parliament, European Commission, European Court of Justice, a set of...
Having It Both Ways: American Culture or Merely Congress?
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Under the terms of the debt-ceiling budget agreement enacted during the summer in 2011, members of a joint Congressional committee, evenly divided between the parties as well as between the two chambers, had until Nov. 23 of that year to recommend wa...
Sympathy, but no money
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America offers support and sympathy for the euro zone. But there is no more IMF money for now...
Police Against Protesters: Sadism or Politics?
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The day after several marches and rallies by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement in New York City, The New York Times reported that “two dozen people were arrested at a Citibank branch on LaGuardia Place on trespassing charges. Some witnesses sai...
An Irish solution to an American problem.
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See this guy to the left? There are lesser spotted lesbian pottery making owls who are less rare than him. His name is Lincoln Chafee, and from 1999 to 2007 he was a Republican United States Senator from the great if teensy-weensy state of Rhode Isl...
Being Green Means Staying Clean
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WASHINGTON—Beltway insiders always love a scandal, and the bankruptcy of solar power cell manufacturer Solyndra Inc. makes for a good one. Solyndra received over $500 million in loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy under a scheme to p...
Are the US Republican Party a Problem for Climate Change?
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Via Scoop.it – The Great TransitionNorway Minister Solheim: “The number one problem when it comes to climate change negotiations is the Republican party of the United States of America. As long as the US, due to the efforts of the Republi...
US healthcare
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Great graph on the inefficiency of the US healthcare system by Lane Kenworthy at Consider the Evidence:...
Bashing the European Union in the United States
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Since the recession, bashing the European Union has become a sport for U.S. commentators. Just skim the most recent headlines, and one is led to believe that the old continent is on the brink of economic, political and social collapse. The truth is t...
"Why This is Exactly the Time to Rebuild America’s Infrastructure" by Robert Reich
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Seems like only yesterday conservative nabobs of negativity predicted America’s ballooning budget deficit would generate soaring inflation and crippling costs of additional federal borrowing....
