Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Obama, the new Caesar
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner
The Washington Times
6:23 p.m., Thursday, June 16, 2011
President Obama has crossed the Rubicon. He now believes - and acts - as if he is above the law; the Constitution no longer applies to him. This is the real meaning behind the U.S. military intervention in Libya. Mr. Obama is abrogating the linchpin of our democracy: the rule of law.
He is violating the War Powers Act. Passed in 1973, the law clearly stipulates that the commander in chief can only deploy U.S. forces for 60 to 90 days without congressional approval. He must then receive authorization from Congress. If he does not, he is usurping legislative authority and expanding the prerogatives of the executive branch - concentrating power in his hands, especially the most important act of all: war. In short, by flagrantly transgressing the War Powers Act, Mr. Obama has sparked a constitutional crisis.
House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, is demanding that the Obama administration explain why it has passed the deadline without seeking or getting congressional approval for the Libyan campaign. The White House’s response: Get lost. The administration sent a report to lawmakers defending the NATO-led Libyan war. For Mr. Obama, the War Powers Act does not apply because U.S. forces apparently are not engaged in “sustained hostilities” with troops loyal to strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Moreover, U.S. air and missile strikes are only being conducted in a “supporting” role. Hence, there is no need to have congressional buy-in.
This is postmodern humanitarian interventionism. According to the liberal apparatchiks in the White House, Mr. Obama can bypass Congress simply by redefining “hostilities.” War is no longer war. It is whatever Mr. Obama says it is - or isn’t. George Orwell warned that the perversion of language is the first step on the dark road to authoritarianism.
US suspends Pakistan military aid as diplomatic relations worsen
Decision to withhold $800m taken as relations become increasingly fraught following the killing of Osama bin Laden
Saeed Shah in Islamabad
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 10 July 2011 19.16 BST
The Pakistan military declared it did not need US military aid as the White House confirmed that it would withhold some $800m (£498m) in assistance to the country’s armed forces.
The row will worsen the already poisonous relationship between the two “allies”, which since the unilateral US raid to kill Osama bin Laden in May has lurched towards breakdown.
Pakistan recently expelled US military trainers from the country, limited the ability of US diplomats and other officials to get visas, and restricted CIA operations on its territory. “The Pakistani relationship is difficult but it must be made to work over time. But until we get through these difficulties we will hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give them,” William Daley, the White House chief-of-staff, told ABC News on Sunday.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Defaulting on the Fed’s Bonds
Ron Paul recently made (another) splash among economic pundits with his suggestion that the Treasury simply cancel the $1.6 trillion in its debt held by the Federal Reserve. Many of Paul’s longstanding critics seized on the proposal as reckless and said it was further evidence that Paul doesn’t understand financial markets. However, Paul received unexpected praise from the progressive economist Dean Baker.
In the present article I’ll explain the basics of Dr. Paul’s proposal. It’s hard to say what its ultimate impact would be if enacted, because the analysis depends on our assumptions. Even so, we can sketch some of the main considerations to at least build a framework for evaluating his suggestion.
Ron Paul’s Modest Proposal
At the 10:00 mark in this interview with radio host Jan Mickelson, Paul says that one quick solution to the stalled debt-ceiling negotiations is for the Treasury to simply cancel the roughly $1.6 trillion in its securities currently on the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve. That would immediately reduce the outstanding federal debt by the same amount, thus freeing up room for Treasury Secretary Geithner to continue meeting the government’s financial obligations even without a Congress-approved increase in the statutory debt ceiling.
Paul argues that this debt cancellation is acceptable because the Fed just printed up the money out of thin air to buy the bonds in the first place. In other words, it’s not as if the Treasury would be reneging on its debts held by hardworking, frugal investors.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Fed’s Massive Stimulus Had Little Impact: Greenspan
Published: Thursday, 30 Jun 2011 | 5:24 PM ET
By: Margo D. Beller
Special to CNBC.com
The Federal Reserve’s massive stimulus program had little impact on the U.S. economy besides weakening the dollar and helping U.S. exports, Federal Reserve Governor Alan Greenspan told CNBC Thursday.
In a blunt critique of his successor, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Greenspan said the $2 trillion in quantative easing over the past two years had done little to loosen credit and boost the economy.
“There is no evidence that huge inflow of money into the system basically worked,” Greenspan said in a live interview.
Communist Party USA Endorses Barack Obama and Democrats For 2012 Election
Obama just received a critical endorsement, The Communist Party USA. The Communist Party USA leader, Sam Webb, explains why he supports Obama and Democrats in 2012.